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POEMS. 



POEMS, 



CONTAINING 



Sketches of Northern Mythology, &c. 

B Y 

F. S A Y E R S, M. D. 



THE THIRD E D I T I O N. 



jSortoicf) : 

PRINTED BY STEVENSON AND MATCHETT, 

FOR MESSRS. CADELL AND DAVIES, LONDON. 
1803. 



\ 















ffstn 



To Mr, W M . TAYLOR, Jun r . 

OF NORWICH, 

These Poems, the offering of an attachment 
early-formed and uninterrupted, are dedicated 
by his friend. 



Table of Contents. 

DRAMATIC SKETCHES OF 
NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY, viz. 



The Defcent of Frea, a 


Mafque 


- 


PAGE 

1 


Moina, a Tragedy 


- 


mm 


3 l 


Ofwald, a Monodrama 


• 


- 


89 


Starno, a Tragedy 


- 


- 


99 



'vO-vO'vO^ O'vO'wO'V 

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. 

The Cyclops - - - 151 

Pandora, a Monodrama - - 211 

Ode to Night *. - - 220 

a 2 Epigram, 



/ 





PAGE 


Epigram, (from the Greek) 


223 


War Song, (from the Gaelic) 


224 


To Cynthia, (from the Antholog.) 


228 


To Cynthia - 


230 


To Cynthia 


231 


The Invitation - 


2 33 


Ode to a Fly - 


236 


Ode of Anacreon - 


239 


Sonnet - - 


240 


Sonnet -* 


241 



DRAMATIC SKETCHES 



o F 



Northern Mythology, 



Fallor? an et radios nine quoque Phoebus habet? 

MILTON. 



PREFACE 



To the Third Edition of Dramatic 
Sk tehees of Northern Mythology. 



*&mmm<^3ap^>^&&+* 



A: 



MONG the variety of mythological sys- 
tems which have contributed at different 
periods to decorate the poetry of England, it 
is much to be lamented that we should dis- 
cover only the faintest traces of the splendid 

and 



PREFACE, 

and sublime religion of our Northern An- 
cestors. Mr. Gray is the only one among 
our more celebrated Poets who has deigned 
to notice the sacred fables of the Goths; he 
has touched them indeed with a masterly 
though sparing hand; yet, even the little 
which he has chosen to introduce, has re- 
paid his attention, by adding to some of his 
more popular performances both grandeur 
and novelty. It is certain, however, that 
the most magnificent features of Scandinavian 
superstition have hitherto been chiefly con- 
cealed in the Sagas of Iceland, or have ap- 
peared only in the tragedies of Klopstock 
and a few other pieces, little known except 
among the Germans and Danes, to whom 

they 



PREFACE. 

they owe their existence.* This being the 
case, I am tempted to publish the following 
Sketches, with a view of giving some slight 
idea of the neglected beauties of the Gothic 
religion, and of recommending a freer in- 
troduction of its imagery into the Poetry of 
the English nation. 

* Although the above assertions, which I have per- 
mitted to remain as pointing out the motives for the ori- 
ginal publication of this work, were, I believe, at the 
time they were written,* nearly accurate, yet it will 
not be improper to observe that they do not equally ap- 
ply at the present day, when the knowledge of the Go- 
thic Mythology and the use of it in poetical composi- 
tions have been much promoted by the productions of 
several living Authors of great merit. 



* In 1789, 

b it 



PREFACE. 

It is evident that to pieces of this kind, 
explanatory notes must be absolutely neces- 
sary; and such were consequently intro- 
duced into the earliest edition of this little 
work, Since the period of its first publica- 
tion I have at various times, as my inclina- 
tion or reading prompted me, added to the 
notes originally inserted; and if, in these 
additions, I should occasionally have wan- 
dered into an investigation of more circum- 
stances and minutiae than may be deemed 
interesting, I have no other apology to offer 
for myself than that common infirmity of 
mind, which so readily permits us to mag- 
nify into importance the trifles of a favourite 
pursuit. 



THE 



E S C E N T 



O F 



FREA. 



MASQUE, 



<vO\0-v0v0^-O\QvO>.Ov 



■Mifcet preccs et fupplice cantu 



Novas vires pofcit. 

CLAUDIAN 

b2 



INTRODUCTION. 



i^ SftMRfifiRBRMM M w * 



T 



HE Gods of the Northern nations were not, 
like thofe of the Greeks, imagined to be im- 
mortal i they were exempted neither from pain 
nor death, and thofe even who efcaped both 
during a feries of ages, were at length to be 
deftroyed at « The Twilight of the Gods :" till 
that time fhould arrive, they were fuppofed to 
dwell in Afgard, and to enjoy, in a fupreme 
degree, thofe luxuries and pleafures which their 
uncivilized worfhippers confidered as the moll 
defirable. 

Balder, 



INTRODUCTION. 

Balder, the Son of Odin, was highly cele- 
brated among the Gods for his exquifite beauty 
and confummate eloquence ; his office, as a 
Deity, was to guide the horfe of day, called 
Skinfax, in his diurnal courfe, and he is there- 
fore properly to be confidered as the God of the 
Sun. The death of Balder was effected by the 
artifice of Lok, the moil malicious and baneful 
of the Gothic Deities : Lok, however, dared not 
openly to deftroy him with his own hand, but 
for this purpofe he prefented a fpear of peculiar 
power to another of the Sons of Odin, Hoder, 
who, with this enchanted weapon, unintention- 
ally pierced his brother to the heart, As Balder 
fell not in battle, his ihade, in conformity to the 
tenets of the Gothic religion, was fuppofed to 
defcend to the dwelling of Hela, the Goddefs of 
the infernal realms. Great was the grief in 
Afgard on account of his death, and Frea*, the 

* Hermod, or Herman, is the perfon fuppofed to have 
defcended in fearch of Balder, but fome licence will be 
granted to poetical compofitions. 

Goddefs 



INTRODUCTION. 

Goddefs of Beauty, peculiarly afflicled by the 
lofs of her lover, refolved to undertake a journey 
to his gloomy habitation, in hopes of obtaining 
his releafe. This defcent of Frea, and the fuo 
cefs which attended it, are the fubjecls of the 
following Mafque. 






PERSONS OF THE MASQUE. 

Odin, God of War, and King of the other 

Deities. 
Thor, God of the Air. 
Surtur, God of Fire. 
Niord, God of the Sea. 
Balder, God of the Sun. 
Lok, an evil Daemon. 

Hertha, Goddefs of Fertility, and wife of 

Odin. 
Frea, Goddefs of Beauty. 
Hela, Goddefs of the Infernal Regions. 



THE 



DESCENT OF FREA, 



^3&50^0^ 



act i. 

SCENE. — The Infernal Regions. 
BALDER. 

JL HOU land of horror ! where unyielding froll 
Piles high the mountain-ice, and dims the air 
With ever-hiding fleet, where piercing blafls 
Sweep on ftorm-laden wing o'er folid feas, 
Mud Balder here for ever moan unheard ? 
Or pour his fighs the feoff of fhivering ghofts 

Shrill-fhrieking 



Thou land of horror /] The kingdom of Hela or Death, 
is defcribed as being in a ftate of continual darknefs, and 
opprefled with a fevere and pernetual winter. Noxious 
animals inhabited it, together with the ghofts of perjurers, 
sflaflins, and adulterers, and of all thofe who died not in 
B battle 3 



Shrill-fhrieking from their caves? Muft Balder' s 

foul 
For ever fhudder at the howl of wolves, 
And, fhrink from fcaly fnakes that round him twine 

battle, or of a violent death.* This idea of the punifh- 
ment of the fouls of the guilty by fevere cold, has been 
admitted into certain monkifh legends ;§ and it is very 
remarkable that it fhould alio be found among the tenets 
of the Effenes.T 

The howl of Wolves.~] See Mallet's Northern Antiqui- 
ties. Vol. ii } p. 165. 



* In order to prevent the frequent quotation of the fame 
writers, I would obferve here, that the Notes to which no au- 
thority is annexed in this and the tnvo following Pieces, will 
generally be found confirmed by one or other of the following 
works, viz. Edda Ssemundar — Edda Refenii — Bartholinus de 
Caus. contempt, mort. — Schedius de Dis Germanis. — Olaus 
Magnus de Gent. Septentrional — Wormii Monument. Danic. — 
Keyfler Antiquit. Septentrion. — and (Percy's) Mallet's Northern 
Antiquities. 

§ See Farmers Note in Reed's Johnfon and Steevens' Shakf- 
peare, (1785) vol. ii. p. 88. 

-f- Jofephus (fpeaking of thedo&rines of this feci: with refpett 
to the future ftate of wicked fouls), fays, 

De Bell. Jud. Lib. ii. 

Their 



Their clammy folds and point their quivering 

flings ? 
Bright fcenes of blifs! farewell! — ye glittering 

domes, 
For ever echoing with the gladfome noife 
Of revelry and fong harmonious, feats 
Of happy gods, where from the gold-tipt horn 
They quaff the fcented nectar of the bee, 
And thrill with rapture, while the flrains of mirth 
Rufh on fonorous wings their hall among — 
No more (hall Balder in your fpacious courts 
Catch with tranfported foul the focial joy, 
And mix exulting with celeftial bands — 
Groves of Valhalla ! haunts of kindred gods ! 
Oft have I wander'd in your flowery paths, 



Ye glittering domes.'] The hall of Odin ; it was called 
Valhalla, and is thus described in Saemund's Edda, Grim- 
nifmal 9. " Perfacile dignofcitur iis qui ad Odinum ve- 
niunt sedes adfpetlu, haftarum manubriis contabulatum 
eft laquear, clypeis fuperne conte&a eft domus, loricas 
per fcamna ftratae." — In this place the gods aflembled, 
and amufed themfelves with feafting, drinking mead, and 
liftening to mufic. 

B 2 Cool'd 



Cool'd by the ftream of Mimer, oft I've fought 
Your thickefl (hade, and catch'd with eager ear 
The notes which foftly ftole from Braga's harp 
Attun'd to love ; and there the beauteous form 
Of Frea blooming as the orient day 
Would bluflhing meet her Balder's fleps retir'd, 
Enamour'd gaze upon my graceful limbs, 
And drink the honied accents of my lips — 
Then from her melting eyes the glance of love 
Quick fhot — dear fcenes of fleeting joy, farewell ! 
What now avails the form that Frea lov'd? 
What now avail the winning words that charm'd 

Cool'd by the jlream of Mimer.] The waters of Mimer 
ran through Afgard, or the habitation of the gods; they 
infpired the drinker with wifdom, eloquence, and a poeti- 
cal fpirit. 

Braga.] Braga was the god of mufic and poetry : his 
wife Iduna was celebrated for potTefling " the apples of 
youth," which the deities ta" a when advancing to old 
age, and which inftantly reflored them to vigour and 
bloom. 

Frea.'] Frea, or Freya, the goddefs of beauty, was the 
daughter of Niord, god of the fea, 

Encircling 



Encircling gods ? — amid the giant-brood, 

Amid the yelling ghofts of murderers 

Forlorn I dwell — no (ilver-founding voice 

Melodious warbles to my forrowing foul, 

The footy raven fails around my head, 

And harfhly chants her hoarfeft defcant here ; 

Ah wretch ! no more the chearful light of heaven 

Shall meet thy wandering eyes, for here no ray 

Of morning plays with foftefl luftre round, 

Nor here ambrofial eve with fragant hand 

Scatters her fweets — 

Thou flaming fleed of day ! whofe golden mane 

Waves in the air and pours the flood of light; 

Oft have I fprung upon thy gloffy back 

To trace the radiant path, then mounted high 

The blue expanfe of heaven, and girt with beams 

The giant -brood. ,] The giants of Frofr. were inhabitants 
of this dreary kingdom : Rimer was their chief. 

Steed of day.~] The name of this horfe was Skin-fax, ox 
Shining;- locks. 

Girt with beams.~\ Balder wore a belt in his oourfe 
round the earth, which communicated to it light and 
heat. 

Of 



6 



Of dazzling glory wing'd my courfe rejoicing — 
Alas! how chang'd! in midnight gloom enwrapt 
The lord of fplendour groans in Hela's halls, 
Hurl'd, hurl'd for ever from the blazing Iky — 
And hurl'd by whom? — a much-lov'd brother's 

hand 
Blafted my blifs, and dahYd me from the height 
Of joy to mifery — amid my pangs 
A figh (hall rife for him — what poifon'd darts 
Of anguifh rankle in his guiitlefs foul, 
While (lowly wandering from the thronged courts 
He feeks the lonely vale, and loudly weeps 
His hateful bloody deed. — Ye cruel maids, 
When firO: ye *gan to weave my woof of fate, 
Ye dy'd it with the rofeate hues of fpring — 



Ye cruel ma ids. ~\ The Fatal Sifters, or Nornies; they 
were three in number. Urd, who prefided over the paft, 
Verandi, over the prefent, and Schulda, over the future. 
They were fuppofed to weave for every human being a 
woof on which his fate depended. — An account of the 
temples of the Fatal Siflcrsj and of the mode of confult- 
ing them, may be found in Olaus Magnus, De Gent. 
Septentrion. Lib. 3, cap. 10. 

At 



At length the raven croak'd — with joy ye fnatch'd 
The cords of woe, and dipp'd the unfinifh'd web 
Deep in the pitchy water of defpair. — 
O thou ! who iitt'fl upon thy mining throne 
Array'd in fplendour ! Odin, Odin! hear 
The forrows of a fon, and turn thine eye, 
Moifl with paternal grief, from fcenes of glory, 
Pierce through the thickeft horrors which fur- 
round me, 
Extend thy daring arm and drag thy child 
From caves of darknefs to thy beamy hall — 
Father, I a(k in vain — it is not thine 
To break the harm, decrees of Fate unchanging, 
But Balder, wretched Balder here muft mourn 
For endlefs years — What flickering ray of light 
Shoots from on high? What wafted perfume fcents 
The dufky air? Some pitying god defcends 
To vifit thefe fad fcenes — 'Tis (he ! 'tis fhe !— 

FREA. (Entering.) 
Where is the lovely god that Hoder tore 
From Frea'sfond embrace? — Again I'm near him, 

Again 



8 



Again my tear-worn eyes behold my Balder, 

Yes, fon of Odin, from the ftarry realm 

Above, I come to feek thy black abode, 

The mourning gods ftalk filent in their groves — 

Without thee heaven itfelf is mifery — 

The fiery horfe of Odin bore me hither, 

Nine days his rapid feet unceaung fcour'd 

A meafurelefs extent of vallies dark ; 

At length the foaming tide of Giall ftopp'd him, 

High o'er its waves a lofty bridge arofe 

On golden pedeftals a ileel-clad warrior 

For ever guards its entrance. — -Who art thou, 

He cried aloud, thus haftening to the halls 

Of gloomy death ? No livid palenefs flains 



The fiery horfe of Odin.'] The name of Odin's horfe was 
Sleipner; he was fuppofed to have had eight feet, and 
was celebrated for his wonderful fwiftnefs. 

Nine days.] The particulars of this defcent are chiefly- 
taken from Mallet's Northern Antiquities. Vol. II. 

Tide of Giall.] Giall was the name of the river which 
feparated the earth from the infernal regions. 

The 



9 



The rofes of thy cheeks, no deadly dimnefs 
Damps the keen luflre of thofe eyes that flafh 
With living fire, thou art no child of Hela — 
Away, I anfwered, 'tis a goddefs haftes 
To Hela's halls — I lafh'd my fnorting fleed — 
With thundering hoof he fpurn'd the rocking 

pile, 
Nor flopp'd till Hela's iron gates forbade 
His eager fleps ; then, like a flaming ftar, 
He fhot aloft in air and bore me fwift 
Above the towering walls.— I tremble (till. 

BALDER. 

Ah ! fear not Frea— 

FREA. 
Had this arm the power 
To force thee upward from the cave of death, 
Then would eternal joy reward my toil — 
But Hela's iron chains no hand can break 
Againfl her pleafure, and her haughty foul 
Joys in the anguifh of the tortur'd ghoft. 

C BALDER, 



/ 



10 



BALDER. 
And can that winning form entreat in vain ? 
Can Hela hear unmov'd thy fuppliant voice ? 
No, Frea, no, upon thy rofy lips 
Perfuafion fits refiftlefs — hafte, accoft her. 

FREA. 
Come from thy murky cells, 
Where midnight darknefs dwells, 

Thou dreadful maid ; 
Come from thy chilly halls. -^ 
The weeping Frea calls, 

And feeks thy faving aid, 

HELA. (From within.) 
Hence, hence, away ; 

No foothing charms 

From Hela's arms 
Shall fnatch her prey. 



FREA. 



•X 



11 



FREA. 

By Allfather's facred head, 
Which bowing fliakes the lofty fky, 

And regions of the dead ; 

By the holy Afh which rears 
Its waving honours high, 

I charge thee, awful pow'r, 

To quit thy gloomy bow'r 
And yield to Frea's tears. 

HE LA. (Entering.) 
Hence to the fields of air — 

Hence, goddefs, quick depart, 
Nor think the lover's prayer 

Will bend rny iron heart. 



Allfather's facred kead.~] Allfader, or Father of all, was 
one of the titles of Odin. 

The holy afh which rears.^ The facred afh of an im- 
menfe fize which grew in the city t of the gods was called 
Hydrafil ; feated under its fhade, Odin adminiftered juf- 
tice; — one of its roots pierced to the dwelling of the 
Fates. 

C 2 FREA. 



12 



FREA. 

Deep in thy mifty caves my Balder lies; 
Alas ! how wither' d by the touch of woe ! 

Dim is the luflre of his fading eyes. 
And fullen fadnefs marks his manly brow. 

Quick through his frame divine chill langours 
moot, 
The boafted rofes of his cheeks are pale, 

The foothing tongue of eloquence is mute, 
O ht his tears, his frequent fighs avail. 

Come, gentle Pity, come unwonted gueft, 
And fpeed thy hafty flight to Hela's cave, 

Then fmiling hover o'er her melting bread, 
And teach her yielding heart to feel and fave. 

And can'ft thou, Hela, fee with ruthlefs look 
The faireft form that wails along thy fhore ? — 

Tear the black leaf from Fate's unerring book, 
The grief-worn Balder to my arms reflore. 

Together 



13 



Together let us climb the burning arch, 
Which darts aloft its many-colour'd light, 

Together let us fpeed the rapid march, 
And quit, for ever quit, the land of night. 

Yield, Hela, yield ; Valhalla's mournful courts 
No longer echo with the jocund found, 

The joylefs gods difdain their wonted fports 
And forrow cads her darkefl fhadows round. 

Since Balder funk untimely to the tomb, 
Dim are the lingering beams of rifmg day, 

The pale moon deeps her filver orb in gloom 
And fickly nature doffs her bright array— 

HELA. 

Frea, no more, 

When all the gods of nature lave 
With briny tears thy Balder's grave, 

Then Balder I reflore ; 

The burning arch.'] The Rainbow ; called by the Goths 
Bifroft, and fuppofed to burn. It was accounted the 
bridge from earth to heaven. 

Yes, 



14 



Yes, by AUfather's facred head, 
If all the gods of nature lave 
With briny tears thy Balder*s grave, 

Again the courts of heaven ftall echo to his 
tread. 
Hence, away, 

FREA. 
Enough, enough, I mount with fpeed, 
And lafh my winged fleed 
To realms of day. 



END OF ACT I, 



15 



2Ctt II. 



SCENE.— Valhalla. 



The Gods assembled in OdirCs IlalL 



ODIN. 

VV ELCOME, fair Queen of Love, to Odin's 

hall. 
Say, haft thou mov'd the flubborn foul of Hela, 
By foft perfuafion and reflftlefs fighs, 
To yield the much-lov'd Balder back to light ? 

FREA. 

Great king of gods and men, the only boon 
That Hela granted to my forrowing foul 
Was this ; when all the gods of nature weep 
The briny tear on haplefs Balder's grave, 

Then 



1(5 



Then from the dreary clime of ghoils he comes 
To grace Valhalla's halls ; but golden hope 
Has not yet fled the woe-worn Frea's bofom; 
Still may the words of grief entice the tear 
From pitying gods, and fnatch from Hela's arms 
Her fplendid prey. — 

(Continues addr effing Odin.) 

Chief of warriors, king of might, 

Clinging to thy fable fleed, 
And darning thro' the fight, 

Thou fmirfl when thoufands bleed : 

Coucher 



Chief of warriors."] Odin was the chief of the Gothic 
deities, and the god of war ; he adminiftered juftice in 
heaven, and was acquainted with futurity by means of a 
raven which was fent to him by Schulda, one of the 
Fates. His commands were ufually executed by the feven 
Valkyries* who attended upon his table, and fele&ed thofe 



* Thefe inferior GoddefTes or Daemons were alfo denominated 
Djfer, (Runic) or Dyfce, hence our word Deufe for Devil. 

See a paffage quoted in Parkhurft's Hebrew 
Lexicon, (3d Edit.) p. 164.. 






17 



Coucher of the ponderous fpear, 

Thou fhout'ft amid the battle's flound — - 
The armed Sifters hear, 

Viewlefs hurrying o'er the ground 

They 

in battle who were doomed to die. He often conde- 
scended, it was thought, to intermix in the conflift him- 
felf, to inflame the fury of the warriors, and to ftrike 
thofe who were to perifh.r 

Of the hiflory of Woden or Odin, the reputed founder 
of the Gothic Mythology, nothing is known on which 
we can place any firm reliance. Some writers are dif- 
pofed to make a diftincliion between Woden, the God of 
War, and Odin, the Chief of the Afae, and to fix the 
apotheofis of the former at a much earlier period than 
that in which the latter flourifhed ° 3 and it fhould feem 
that this diftinftion mult be neceffarily admitted, if we 
adopt the opinion entertained by Sir William Jones, that 
Woden is no other than the Buddh of India, or the Fo 
of the Chinefe.J An attempt again has been made to 
prove, from a refemblance between the cofmogony of the 

Edda 

f Mallet's Northern Antiquitie?, and Verfiegan's Decayed 
Intelligence. 

X Afiatic Refearches, Vol. i. (4to.) p. 425. It is much to be 
regretted that Sir Wm. Jones has not entered at large into the 
proofs of this opinion j with the higheit reipe& for the authority 

D of 



18 



They ftrike the deftin'd chiefs and call them 

to the fkies. 
Lo ! from Schulda's mifty towers 
On jetty wing the raven flies 
And bears the deeds of future hours ; 

To 

Edda and that of MelifTus of Samos, § that Odin had vi- 
fited Samos, and thence derived his doctrines : this cele- 
brated character however feems to be more generally al- 
lowed to have been the Chief of the Afse, (the inhabitants 
of a territory bordering on the Masotis) and to have fled 
with his followers into— Sweeden at the time in which 
Mithridates yielded to the arms of Pompey ;|| but of the 

of this moft accomplifhed man, I may be permitted to obferve, 
that upon a very careful comparifon of the doftrines of Buddh 
and of Odin, I have been ftruck by fuch various and remarkable 
differences in them, that I cannot readily give my affent to the 
aflertion that thefe fyftems are the production of the fame perfon ; 
it appears to me however very probable, that Odin may have re 
ce'ivedfome of his tenets from the followers of Buddh j as, 
befides other {lighter refemblances which may be traced be- 
tween the Gothic and ancient Hindu Mythologies, we find in the 
latter an account of a place of future punifhment extremely cold, 
a /acred tree of an immenfe fize, (the Hydrafil of the Goths) and 
a clafs of Spirits denominated Loka, from which the idea and 
name of the Gothic Lok may poflibly have been borrowed. 

§ See the opinions of this Philofopher in Diogenes Laertius. 

[J Richardfon's Diuertation on the Eaftern Nations, p. 1 17, (Svo.) 

truth 



19 



To thee he hades — in folemn flate 
Thou read'ft the dread commands of fate 

To liflening deities ; 
Say, is it doom'd no parents tear 
Shall wet thy Balder's fable bier ? 
Wilt thou not weep thy child forlorn, 
Thy blooming child by Hela torn 
From halls of blifs 
To caves of dark defpair ? 
Yes, Odin, ycs^ 
I mark the gufhing drops which (lain 

A father's cheek, 
Thofe gufhing drops thy anguifh fpeak, 
Balder fhall live again 
And cleave the realms of air. 

truth of this opinion alfo (which refts chiefly upon the 
authorities of Snorro, an ancient Norvegian Hiftorian, 
and his commentator Torfaeus) Mallet expreffes a great 
diftruft: ; and fome writers go fo far as to deny the exift- 
ence of Odin altogether, except as a mythological perfon* 

In whatfoever obfcurity however the hiftory of the 
Father of the Gothic Mythology may be enveloped, the 
mod convincing evidence has been adduced to prove that 
the Goths were originally a Scythian tribe. 

Da ODIN; 



20 

ODIN, 

Odin drops the tear, 
To wet thy Balder's bier. 

FREA. (Addreffing Hcrtha.) 
Queen of the fertile earth, 
Whofe all creative-hand 

Firft gave the fons of man their birth ; 

Queen of the fertile earthy Hertha was the wife of Odin } 
and the goddefs of fertility. The following account of 
her feflival is given us by Tacitus in his admirable treatife, 
de Moribus Germaniae :— " Herthum, id eft Terram Ma- 
trem colunt, eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi 
populis arbitrantur : eft in infula oceani caftum nemus, 
dicatumque in eo vehiculum vefte conteclum : attingere 
uni facerdoti conceffum : is adefle penetrali dearn intel- 
ligit, ve&amque bubus feminis multa cum veneratione 
profequitur: lasti tunc dies ; fefta loca, quaecumque ad- 
\*entu hofpitioque dignatur ; non bella ineunt j non arma 
fumunt ; claufu'm omne ferrum ; pax et quies tunc tan- 
tum nota, tunc tantum amata ; donee idem facerdos 
fatiatam converfatione mortalium deam templo reddat ; 
mox vehiculum et veftes, et fi credere velis, numen ipfum 
fecreto lacu abluitur. Servi miniflrant ; quos ftatim idem 
lacus haurit ; arcanus hinc terror fan&aque ignorantia, 
cjiuid fit illud quod tantum perituri vident." 

De Moribus German. 40. 

And 



21 



And fcatter'd o'er the defert land 

The painted flower, the budding tree. 
The billowy crops of yellow grain, 
Peopled every teeming plain, 
And fill'd with life the refllefs fea; 
Whene'er thy (lately form appears 
On mortal more, 
No war nor battle's din, 
Is heard thy realms within; 
No more the armed foldier rears 
The tined lance, 

And fpurs the deed no more.— 
Before thy veiled car the rofy Pieafures dance, 
Balmy odours round thee play 
Richer verdure dyes thy way, 
Double glory gilds the day. 
Say, Hertha, wilt thou drop the tear 
On youthful Balder's fable bier ? 

HERTHA. 
Hertha drops the tear, 
To wet thy Balder's bier. 

FREA. 






oo. 



FREA. (A&drcfling Thor.) 

God of the wandering air, 

Whofe forked flafhes tear 
The pine high-towering on the mountain-fide 5 
Who joy'ft o'er fhaking rocks to guide 

The thunder's fiery courfe; 
Who bidft thy dark clouds pour 
The vail and whelming fhower 

And fwell the torrent's force. 
God of dorms, when levelling hail, 
When hollow-roaring whirlwinds fail, 

Sweeping o'er the valley's pride, 

Rolling high the weltering tide, 
Thou fpeak'ft — thy potent voice difarms 
The tempefl's rage: — thy genial calms, 

Thy fultry gales, and foftering dew 

Cloath the wafted earth anew. 

God of the iron-mace, 

Which tames the giant-race, 

God of the wandering air. ] Thor, the god of weather; 
—with a mace he ruled the giants of froft, and with his 
iron gauntlet he hurled the thunder. 

Say, 



23 



Say, wilt thou drop the pitying tear 
On youthful Balder's fable bier ? 

THOR. 
Thor fhall drop the pitying tear, 
And wet thy Balder's fable bier. 

FREA. (Addrejing Surtur.) 

King of refiftlefs fire, 
Who bidft the nightly meteors ride 
Along the fnow-wrapt Hecla's fide — 
Who wieldft aloft with mighty hand 
The burning, ftarry-pointed brand, 

And dazzled hofts retire ; 
Where'er thy furious courfe is fped, 
Nature bows her wither'd head : 

Thy fatal car outftrips the wind, 
Thy courfers' fcorching noftrils breathe 
A wide confuming fleam beneath— 

Deflru£tion flies behind ; 

King of refiftlefs fire, ] Surtur was the chief of the fpl- 
rits of fire ; his dwelling was called Mufpelheim: he pof- 
fefled a fword of flame, at the end of which was a fun. 

She 



24 



She rears her red right hand 
And with her flaming befom fweeps theblafled 
land.— • 
Say, Surtur, wilt thou drop the tear 
On youthful Balder* s fable bier? 

SURTUR. 
Surtur drops the tear, 
To wet thy Balder's bier, 

FREA. (Addrejing Niord.) 
Lord of the boundlefs deep, 
Whofe murmuring waters gently fwell 

And kifs the craggy fleep ; 
When thunders burft around, 
And tempefts yell, 
Thy heaving plain repeats th* appalling found, 
Thy frothy furges rife 
And lafh the darken'd fkies, 
Thy rapid eddies wheel with fleeter motion ; 
Then by the lightning's livid glare, 
Thou ftalk'ft ferene thro* murky air, 
Which fhrouds the raging ocean ; 

But 



But foon the ("mouldering thunders ceafe, 
Soon the winged tempefis flee, 
Thor in breezes whifpers peace, 
Sun-beams gild the finking fea. — 
O'er its white brim on calming wing 

The heitre play'd — 
And flillnefs hover'd on the gales of fpring — 
When Braga touch'd the quivering firing, 
And flowly flray'd 

To Niord's fhore; 
On its mining furface flood 
The father of the flood, 
He bade the bard celedial pour 
His foftefl notes — 
The melting mufic floats 
Upon the charmed wave — 
Come from thy dewy cave, 
My father cries, 
Arife, arife, 
Let the azure waters lave 



The heitre,'] A bird of calm ; the halcyon of the North* 
E Thy 



Q6 



Thy fnowy limbs and golden hair — 
He fpake, and Frea rofe to realms of air.— 
Then Niord clafp'd me to his bread 
And all the parent's pride confeft; 
Now will my father's heart difdain 
To eafe his daughter's piercing pain ? 
Or wilt thou drop the pitying tear, 
On youthful Balder's fable bier ? 

NIORD. 

Niord drops the tear, 
To wet thy Balder's bier. 

FREA. (Addr effing LoL) 
God, of the nether world, 
Whofe deadly arrow hurl'd 
The youthful Balder to the caves of night, 
O, let not Shulda write 
His everlafting doom ; 
O let not Balder's tomb 
For ever ftand, 
But fnatch with pitying hand 
From Hela's curs'd abode 
The fallen god ; 

Revive, 






27 



Revive, revive his wither'd charms^ 
And give him back to Frea's arms. 
Drop, O Lok, the pitying tear 
On youthful Balder's fable bier. 

LOK. 

Away, away, 
Lok ne'er will weep — 
Let Hela keep 

Her fplendid prey. 

FREA. 
By the raven's fong of death, 
By the night-mair's baneful breath, 
By the glutted vulture's fcrearn, 
By the tomb-fire's lurid gleam, 

By the night -mair's,] This word, generally, tho' im- 
properly fpelt mare, is the plural of (the Saxon) mat, a 
maid : — the Fates were fo called. 

The tomb -fire's lurid gleam.'] A faint flame, always vifible 
in the night, was believed by the Goths to hover over 
the tombs of thofe with whom enchanted weapons, or 
ireafures, had been buried. 

Five pieces of Runic Poetry. 
E2 By 



28 

By the mighty ferpent's blood, 
By the roar of GialFs flood, 
By the war-hounds* fatal yell, 
By all the horrors of thy hell, 
I charge thee weep the briny tear 
On youthful Balder's fable bier, 

LOK. 

No — tho' Valhalla's towering wall 
Around thefe finewy limbs mould fall, 
Tho' Skinfax plunge his flaming head 
Amid the caverns of the dead, 
Tho 9 Surtur aim his fiery dart 
And heap his flames around my heart, 



The mighty ferpent's.] Midgard, — See the death-fong 
in Moina. 

Giall.~\ See above. 

The zoar-hounds.] Garm, the dog of Hela, was the 

mofl noted of thefe dogs : he was fed with the corfes of 

the fiain, and' guarded the fouls of the cowardly in the 

infernal regions. 
o 

Skinfax.'] See above. 

Tho' 



29 



Tho' Niord's foaming main mould roar, 
And dafh me lifelefs on the more ; 
Tho' Thor mould hurl his iron mace 
And ftain with gore this hated face ; 
Tho' Odin's felf in wrath mould rear 
His golden fpear 
And mining fhield, 
This flubborn heart mall never yield, 
Hela mall hold her fplendid prey- 
While countlefs ages roll away* 



THE END. 



MOINA. 



TRAGEDY. 



/vO-vO-v^- 



OkC<B"' vvv JV tji »9- e e ^^$p(f 

SOPHOCLES. 












- 



INTRODUCTION. 



T 



HE ftory of the following Tragedy is fic- 
titious ; the event may, without impropriety, be 
fuppofed to have happened on the coaft of 
Ireland, which the Northern Nations were ac- 
cuftomed to plunder before its converfion to 
Chriflianity. The Greek form of dramatic 
writing has been adopted, as affording in its 
chorus the mod favourable opportunity for the 
difplay of mythological imagery. Rhyme has 
not been ufed in the Odes, both becaufe it was 
lefs conformable to the model imitated, and be« 
caufe it appeared unneceffary, if not prejudicial 
in this fpecies of poetry. 



PERSONS OF THE PLAY. 



MOINA, 1 

Carril, J 


Celts. 




Chorus of Bards. 






Meffengers. 






SCENE.— A Castle it 


i the possession of Harold, 



I N A. 



^^^^^©^t^-^ 



MOINA. 



X ULL fifty nights have caft their gloom 

around me 
Since firft the hated Saxon tore me trembling 
From parents, kindred, and a much lov'd land- 
Yet lofs of parents, kindred, and my country 
Scarce move a foul opprefl with keener grief; 
In the loud flrife of arms, in fields of blood, 
My Carril fiercely fighting for his Moina 
Fell — fell by Harold's arm, and fmiling hope 
For ever fled my breaft — here, here he lives, 



Nights.] The Goths reckoned certain fhort periods 
of time by nights; hence our expreflions fort'night, 
fe'nnight. 



F2 And 



36 



And while my eyes behold this hated light 
He flill fhall live, and flill with fullen pleafure 
I'll dwell on other times, when all was Hope, 
When all was love and joy — accurfed beauty ! 
Would that the god of Fura's facred wood 
Had wither'd this fair form — the Saxon then 
Had feen and hated me. — Wife ? — Harold's 

wife? — 
Yes — 'tis a murderer's arm embraces me, 
A murderer calls me his, the murderer 

Of Carrill— Would this hand 

But hark! the found of fong, the daily greeting 
Of aged bards.-— 

MOINA. 

Fura's facred zoood.~\ See a fubfequent note concerning 
the Celtic worfhip of gods of woods. 

Bards.'] The bards,* or as they ought rather to be de- 
nominated 

* Although the word bard (as appears from Evan's Specimens 
of Welch Poetry, and from Owen'sWelchand Englifh Dictionary) 
is undoubtedly Celtic, yet I have the lefs hefitated to fubftitute 
this term to the unfamiliar one Scald, becaufe the Romans and 
Greeks, having adopted it into their refpeclive languages, ufeit 
indifcriminately to exprefs either a Celtic or a Gothic minftrel j 
thus Tacitus (de. morib. German. III.) calls the German or Gothic 

war- fong 



37 

MOINA, CHORUS. 

CHORUS. 
Hail to her whom Frea loves, 
Moina, hail : 

When firfl thy infant eyes beheld 
The blufhing beam of orient day 



Frea 



nominated the Scalds^ were poets and muficians, who 
conilantly attended the Gothic chieftain both in war and 
peace ; their art was held in the higheft eftimation ; their 
perfons were deemed facred ; and they were every where 
lpaded with careffes, honours, and rewards. t The poems 

of 

war-fong Barditum ; while Athenseus and Diodorus Siculus on 
the other hand denominate the Celtic poet (Za,p<Pof. Even the 
old monkifh writers in Britain (as Geoffery of Monmouth, and 
William of Malmefbury) confound the above mentioned clafles of 
men under a common title ; a circumftance fomewhat extraor- 
dinary. 

•f This word denotes a fmoother or polifher of language.— 
" Scalld a depilando dicli videntur quod rudem orationem tan- 
quam evulfis pilis perpoliunt." — Torfasi Praefat. ad Oread. Hift. 

See too Barrnolinus de caus. contempt, mortis. 

| Olaus Wormius Lit. Danic, p. 195, ed. 4th. — Percy's Pre- 
face to his Reliques of Ancient Englifh Poetry. — The munificence 
ihewn to the minftrels, or fucceffors of the Scalds and Bards, ap- 
pears from the learned author above mentioned to have been un- 
diminiflied, or rather perhaps to have arrived at its higheft pitch, 



38 

Frea from Valhalla's groves 
Mark'd thy birth in filent joy ; 
From Valhalla's groves fhe fent 

of thefe men were called Vyfes ; they were chiefly of a 
warlike call, and it is afierted that not lefs than an hun- 
dred and thirty-fix different kinds of meafure had been 
introduced into them ;§ alliteration was much ufed and 
efleemed by the Scalds; rhyme they attended to lefs, yet 
fome fpecimens of their rhymed poetry have been col- 
lected, which are executed with great accuracy. || 

The verfes of the Scalds were ufually fung to the harp 
or Cithara.H 

in the middle ages. Rigordus (de Geftis Philippi Aug. an. 1185) 
obferves, " Cum in curiis regum feu aliorum principum frequens 
turba Hiftrionum convenire foleat, ut ab eis aurum, argentum y 
equos, weftes extorqueant, &c." from Froiflhrt we learn, that 
the Earl of Foix gave to the Duke of Touraine's minftrels, gowns 
of cloth of gold, furred with ermine, valued at two hundred 
Franks. — Fauchet alfo bears teflimony to the great liberality 
fhewn to the minftrels on the continent. — Similar rewards were 
Javifhed upon them in our own country at about the fame period, 
for Johannes Salisburienfis (in the time of Henry II.) declaims 
againft thefe practices no lefs than the foreign monks. 

§ Blair's Critical DnTertation on the Poems of Oflian. 

|| Five pieces of Runic Poetry. 

fl[ This cuftom long prevailed in England. — See Bede's Hift. 

Eccles. Angl. Lib. 4, c. 24. It is remarkable enough (as is 

noticed by Percy) that the word cantare in the paffage of Bede, 
referred to above, ihould have been tranflated by King Alfred 
" fmg to the harp,'' as if his countrymen had no idea of finging 
unaccompanied by that internment. 

The 



39 

The fwift-wing'd meffenger of love, 

Bearing in her rofy hand 

The gold-tipt horn of gods ; 

From this thy lips imbib'd 

The draught of mead divine, 

Thro' thy tender frame diftillin g 

It form'd thy fnowy limbs to grace, 

It glofs'd thy raven hair, 

Illum'd thy fparkling eyes, 

And flufh'd thy cheek with crimfon hues 

Unfading. 

Hail to her whom Frea loves, 

Moina, hail. 

MOINA. 

Ye venerable men, my grief-worn foul 

Mejfenger of love.'] Gna is the name of Frea's mefTen« 
ger ; Fulla and Noffa were the two other Graces who at- 
tended the Venus of the North.' 

Mead divine.'] The beverage of the Northern deities, 

Scarce 



40 



Scarce heeds your falutation : child of forrow 
The foothing voice of flattery pafles by me, 
Like feeble gales which fan a warring hoft, 
Unnotic'd. — Is your chief return'd? 

CHORUS. 

As yet 
No meffenger of victory has reach'd us. 

MOINA. 

To flay, to conquer, thefe are Harold's plea- 

fures, 
To ftain his dark blue fleel with human gore; 
Cannot the glad repafl, the fong of bards, 
The vigor-giving chace, the folemn council, 
Withdraw the favage hero from the battle ? 
No — thefe are vain. — To fhed the blood of 

thoufands, 
To ftrew the reeking plain with fons and 

brothers, 
To cleave the father's and the lover's breaft, 
Thefe are the only joys a Saxon feels. — 

God 






41 



God of my fathers, ftrike the fell deflroyers, 
Blunt, blunt their fteel, benumb their hardy 

linews, 
Pour out their tide of life, that peace again 
May blefs my country. 

CHORUS. 

E'en the gods themfelves, 
Who dwell above in happinefs and glory, 
Delight in Shining arms and fierce encounter; 
From fair Valhalla's courts they ruih with joy 
To meet each other with their brandifh'd blades. 
And mix in fportive fight ; when battle tires, 
Again they feek the feaft, and quaff again 
From gold-encircled horn the amber mead* 
Such is their happy life j and can'ft thou wonder 
That man ihould imitate the gods ? that man 



L'en the gods themselves^ £3c~\ Edda Saemundar. Vaf- 
thrudnifmal xii. 

- Should 






¥1 



Should laugh at fear, and boldly die to claim 
A feat of joy ? 

MOINA. 

So may Valhalla's halls 
Be quickly filPd with fouls of fallen Saxons ! — 
Thou unfeen power, who in my country's woods 
In awful filence dweirft, whom trembling Druids 
With hallow'd rites invoke, arife, arife, 

A feat of joy. ,] To mix with the warlike deities of the 
North, to enjoy the feftivity of Valhalla, and to quaff ale 
and mead from the fculls of their enemies, were the re- 
wards which the Scalds promifed to the brave in a future 
flate. 

Thou unseen power, &c.~] The religious rites of the Celts 
were ufually performed in the receffes of deep woods ; 
the deity of the place was often the object of their 
adoration, and having no image of him, they feem to 
have confidered him as reprefented by the facred grove 
itfelf in which he was worshipped. 

•■ ■ nemora alta remotis 

Incolitis lucis — 

Ipfe fitus, putrique facit jam robore pallor 
Attonitos, — 

pavet ipfe facerdos 

AccefTus, dominumque timet deprendere luci. 

Lucan. Pharfal. Lib. 1 et Lib. 3. 

And 



£1 



43 

And wing the well-aim'd dart to Harold's 
bofom- — 

CHORUS. 

Beware, nor call the vengeance of thy gods 
Upon a hulband's head; ftiould Harold fall 
With pain I fee what follows : — 

MOINA. 

What can follow ? 
What keener woes than thofe I know already ? 
A breathlefs lover and an aged parent 
In forrow finking to the narrow houfe ? 
The bread of Moina fears no greater anguifh. 

CHORUS. 

No more — our words diftrefs thee. 

MOINA. 

Fare ye well. 

G2 CHORUS. 



44< 



CHORUS. 

King of gods on fhining throne, 
Thou, who with a lingle glance 
Pierceft Nature's wide extent, 
Thou, who from the fpring of Mimer 
QuarTefl liquid lore divine, 
Odin, hear. 

King of gods, whom Hydrafil 
With facred fhadow veils, 
Whilfl around thee lit coeleflials, 
Whilfl beneath thee Fates attend, 
Odin, hear. 

King of men, who dealeft triumph 
Brave in battle, brave in death, 



Cnjhininir throne.] Lidjkialfa was the name of Odin's 
throne, whence the whole world was fuppofed to be vi- 
able to him. 



Hydrafil.'] See above, p. 21. 

Gafh'd 



• 



45 



Gafli'd with gory wounds, 

In agony thou fimTft ; 

King of men, whofe dark blue fleel 

No foe unconquer'd faw, 

Soon his heart's blood fmok'd around, 

Soon his daunted fpirit fled, 

Odin, hear. 

In Harold's bread thy valour pour, 
String his nerves, his looks inflame, 
Direct his brawny arm to fling 
The darts of death around, 
In the tempefl: of the battle 
Throw thy fhield of fafety o'er him, 
Protect him with thy mighty hand, 
And fend him back with vidlorv. 



Gajh'd with gory zoounds.'] Odin, whilft he was yet on 
earth, is recorded to have flabbed himfelf at an advanced 
period of age in nine different places. The Gothic na- 
tions efteemed it dilhonourable not to die a violent death. 



But 



46 



But mould the Fatal Sifters mark 

Our chieftain's foul to grace thy halls, 

Should the keen arrow pierce his fide 

And Harold perifh in the fight, 

When death fhall numb his finewy limbs, 

When his bent knees fhall tottering fail, 

"When fhades of night fhall gloom his eyes 

And finking nature yield, 

Then may no groan of woe efcape 

Our hardy chieftain's fainting lips, 

Then may no writhing pang diftort 

The dying hero's face « 

joyful to fall in fields of blood 

To him may death's cold (leel be welcome, 

And may he laughing die. 

i 



CHORUS, 



47 
CHORUS. 

CARRIL> in the habit of a Bard. 

CARRIL. *AJide. 

Under the cover of thefe facred garments, 
A fure protection from the hand of infult, 
I yet may hope to find my much-lov'd Moina ; 
Since firft my wounded limbs would bear me on 
I've vainly wander'd ; many a (lately caflle 
Has hofpitably cheer'd my fainting body, 
But on my mind forlorn no gleam of joy 
Hath yet arifen — perhaps within thefe walls — 
Ah no — my tortures mull not finifli yet — 
Would that the pious hands which found me 

bleeding 
'Midft heaps of flain, had left me there to perifli, 
Then had the long calm ileep of death opprefl 

me, 
Nor had I wak'd to anguifh— • 

CARRIL. 



48 

CARRIL, turning to the Chorus, 
Aged Bards 
Have pity on me, take me to your halls, 
Weary and faint I afk fome flight relief, 
Shut not your doors againfl a haplefs man.— 

CHORUS, 

Accurft be he who 'gainft the fuppliant ilranger 
Shall bolt his maffy iron gates, unmindful 
Of mifery's voice. — Thefe halls have ever offerM 
Food and repofe to way-worn travellers. 

CARRIL. 
I thank ye venerable men— but fay, 
What warlike chieftain calls this caille his ? 

Your hof pit able halls.~\ An unbounded hofpitality was 
one of the moft prominent and amiable features in the 
character of our Northern anceftors, u Quemcunque 
mortalium arcere te£k> nefas habetur; pro fortuna quifque 
apparatis epulus excipit. Cum defecere, qui mcdo hofpes 
fuerat, monfhrator hofpitii et comes, proximam domum 
non invitati adeunt; nee intereft, pari humanitate acci- 
piuntur. Notum ignotumque, quantum ad jus hofpitii, 
nemo difcernit," Tacitus de Mor. German. 21. 

CHORUS. 



49 



CHORUS. 

'Tis Harold's caflle, urg'd by reftlefs valour , 
He quits his home and feeks the clafh of arms. 

CARRIL. 
And his fair wife laments her abfent lord ? 

CHORUS. 
His fair wife weeps, but not for his return; 
Another caufe of woe has fhrunk her form,— 
She weeps her home. 

CARRIL. 

Her name? 

CHORUS. 

Her name is Moina. 
Why does the red-blood haften from thy cheek, 
The cold dew damp thy face ? thy fhaking knees 
Can fcarce fupport thee. — 

CARRIL, 
H 



CARRIL. (After a paufe.) 

'Tis a fudden fainting^ 
With tedious fteps opprefs'd this weakly frame 
Sinks under me. 



CHORUS. 
Retire and take refrefhment* 



SEMI-CHORUS. 
*Tis not he whofe arched halls 
Refound with revelry and fong 
That taftes the pureft joy, 
But he who from his ample flore 
Feeds the hungry, cheers the faint, 
On languid features fheds the fmile 
And lights up radiance in the eye ; 
Him the traveller fhall blefs, 
Him the gods will love. — 
When Ihriveli'd by the fummer-ray 
The drooping plants imbibe 
The falling rain, 
Again they bud, and pour around 
Their fweeter fcents. 



CHORUS, 



\ 



51 

CHORUS, CARRIL. 

CARRIL. 

My ftrength is now renew'd, I fain would meet 
The lady of thefe halls. 

CHORUS. 

She comes, accoft her, 

CHORUS, CARRIL, MOINA. 

CARRIL. 
Lady, a ilranger whom your domes received 
Offers his thanks : and if *tis your good pleafure 
The wandering bard will raife the found of fong, 
The pleafing found of praife. 

MOINA. 

Thou holy man, 
The flattering fong is hateful to my ear, 
But if thou know'ft to tune the mournful lay, 

And 
H2 



52 



And foftly breathe the melancholy tale, 
My fickly foul could liften with delight. 

CARRIL. 
Pleafe you to fit, fair lady, while I raife 
The melting {trains of grief.— 
Peace, florins of night, ye roaring whirlwinds, 

peace ; 
Soft glide, ye torrents, from the echoing hills ; 
Rife from the murky vale, ye blood-red fires, 
And dimly moot your beams ; ye famifh'd wolves 
Ceafe your wild howls — let all be filent, dark — • 
Ghofts of my fathers, bend your fhadowy forms 
To hear the tale of woe — 
The tale of woe which Mornac thus began. 
Swift was my daughter's Hep on Fura's hills, 
Health flufrVd her cheek, and down her, fnowy 

neck 
The dark locks cluttering fell — why ftarts the 

tear ? 
Why heaves the figh in Mornac* s aged bofom ? 
No more my Lora meets me on the heath, 

No 




No more fhe cheers my foul with grateful voice, 
My lofty halls are filent — 
The blue mill rifes from the lakes, and fills 
The bending flowers with dew, the fun burfts 

forth, 
The mift is gone— no beam of joy difpels 
The mift of Mornac's foul, but lading forrow 
Cleaves to my aged heart — my child, where art 

thou ? 
Dark is thy bed, O Lora, grief has crufiVd 
Thy tender form, far from a parent's bofom 
The hand of rapine fnatch'd thee, and thy fleep 
Ere this is deep — accurfed be the chief 
Who fought on Fura's plains, my feeble arm 
Benumb'd with ages winter (truck in vain, 
In vain did Carril fight, the much-lov'd Carril, 
Fierce was his look, full rofe his finewy limbs, 
As a dark cloud he mov'd, and (hook his glitter-* 

ing fpear — 
The fteel deep pierc'd his fide, death hover 9 d 

round him 

Q'erwhelm'd 



54 



O'erwhelm'd amid the flain — fear feiz'd our 

foldiers, 
They fled the flrife of fpears ; the conquering 

Saxons 
Entei'd our halls defencelefs, thence they bore 
My Lora, but the blue-ey'd chief difdain'd 
To fmear with frozen blood his dark-blue fleel ; 
Cruel he fpar'd me to lament my woes 
And fink in anguifh to the narrow houfe. 
When the huge mafs of fnow from beetling hills 
Defcends impetuous on the cottage roof, 
And buries in its fall the father, mother, 
And infant offspring, then no found of woe 
Is heard, no parent weeping for a child, . 
No child deep-fobbing for a tender parent, 
All find a common grave and fleep in peace — >. 
But when the roaring torrent ruihes down 
The dark-brown rocks, and from the mountain- 
deer 
Snatches her fportive fawn, the haplefs mother 
Forgets her food, forgets the wonted fpring, 
And quits the playful herd; old Mornac thus 

Rejects 



55 



Rejects the joys of life to weep in fecret— i 
And now the conquering enemy retir'dj 
The hoary druids from their facred woods 
Come forth, they hafte to clofe our fallen friends 
In the cold earth — when Carril they efpy 
Yet breathing — 

CHORUS. 

Venerable man, thy tale 
Has deeply touch'd our lady — fhe retires — 
Finifh thy fong. 

CARRIL. 

In Carol's wounds they pour 
The healing balm, recall his fainting foul 
And raife him up — to mifery ! — and now 
O'er Fura's plains the lover wanders mourning* 
In Fura's mofly towers the father weeps. — 
Rife florms of night, ye raging whirlwinds, rife ; 
Roar loud, ye torrents, from the towering hills ; 
Howl, howl, ye wolves ; ye fiery meteors blaze 

With 



56 



With redder beams — away to hovering clouds, 
Ghofts of the dead— the folemn fong is fung. 

A MESSENGER. 

Moina, old man, commands you to attend her; 
Follow.—* 

CHORUS. 
What found cceleftial floats 
Upon the liquid air ?-— 
Is it the ruftling breeze 
From Glafor's golden boughs ? 
Is it the dark-green deep 
Soft echoing to the notes 
Of Niord's fwans? 
No- — 'tis Braga's harp, 
Braga fweeps the founding firings— 

Glafor's golden boughs.~\ Glafor was a foreft in Afgard; 
the trees which compofed it fhot forth golden branches. 

Of Niord's f wans. ] Of the mufical powers of the fwan, 
the favourite bird of Niord, the Scandinavians enter- 
tained the fame opinion as the Greek and Romans. 

Mimer's 



51 



Mimer's ftream infpires the god, 

With fwimming eyes 

And foul of fire 

He pours the tide of harmony .-« 

He whom Braga loves 
Shall fwell the folemn lay, 
Shall ftrike the chords of joy, 
And gently touch the (hell. 
He whom Braga loves 
Shall wake the din of war, 
Inflame the chieftain's foul, 
And fend him in his glittering arms 
To fields of blood- 



CHORUS, 



58 
CHORUS, at a dijlance: 

CARRIL, MOINA. 

MOINA. 

In vain thou urgeft flight-— tho* force compelled 

me 
To fhare the bed of Harold, whilft he breathes 
I*m his alone — and would not Carrii's felf 
Detefl me, faithlefs ? — fhould fome happy arm 
Transfix the Saxon, hope again might beam 
Upon the cloud of grief which veils us round ; 
Then might I fly and reft in Carrii's arms, 

CARRIL. 
'Tis well — When Harold's haughty fteps refound 
Within his courts, I'll dare him to the combat. 

MOINA. 

No, Carril, no — I love thy dauntlefs fpirit, — 
Yet mould the chieftain bleed within thefe walls, 
A fure deftru&ion waits upon us both. 

Calm 



59 



Calm thy fierce courage — -on the road which 

leads 
O'er yonder hill, a gloomy foreft borders, 
The fun-beams never pierce its fides, the wolf, 
The hilling fnake poffefs it ; there relides 
A prophetefs deep fkill'd in Runic lore ; 



A prophetefs deepjkill'd.~] Propheteffes or witches were 
held in high repute among the Northern nations;* 
" Inefle quinetiam, (fays Tacitus, de mor. German.) 
fan&um quid et providum foeminis putant." — The in- 
fluence of their councils in war is mentioned by Polyasnus 
de Stratag, Lib. 7. 

* Perhaps the following particulars of the coftume, &c. of 
thefe women may not be uninterefting. 

UctpCtKO^OUV ITpoyL&VTilS Up&l, TOKtOTpt^* ASt/fcStyWJ'S?, 

Strabonis Geograph. Lib. 7. 

In filvis, montibus, fpecubus, et prope a fontibus habitant. 

Keyfter Antiq. Septen. 

E/07 «Ts km wapa TipfAdLvo^ 0L1 Upcti KdAovy^vcti yvv&iKZs 

At 7T0TCL(JLC<)V £tVAt{ TpoChiTTOVCTA/, KAl piVjA&TGOV Ihiy^LOli KO.I 
"¥q$01{ TtK(ACUpQVTell K&l f 7rpQ\ri<T'7FlZ ) QV(Jl TA (Af^OVTCt, 

Strom. Lib. s, p. 305, (Col. Fol. 1688.) 

Confult alfo Erin's Rauga Saga: and in Olaus Magnus, (de 
Gent. Septentrion. Lib III. cap. xv. and following chapters) a 
long account may be feen of the magical arts of thefe Gothic 
witches. 

1 2 Hafte 



60 

Hafte to her cave, and force her to demand 
By magic rites, if joy or grief await 
Our future hours. 

CARRIL, 
I go, and may the gods 
We fear, with bleft forebodings wing my feet 
Returning. 

[Moina and Carril go out. 

CHORUS, A SOLDIER. 

CHORUS. 
Thy hafty ftep portends us good, thou com' ft 
To tell the victory of Harold ? 



SOLDIER. 

No, 

Our chief is fallen in the battle's rage ; 
Bravely he fought by multitudes oppreft, 
His blows were death ; at length a feather'd dart 

Pierc'd 



61 



Pierc'd his brave fide, his heart's blood follow'd 

gufhing, 
Death dimm'd his eyes — he feebly rais'd his arm 
As if to ftrike again — his finews fail'd him — 
He fell — in death's laft agony he grafp'd 
His weapon — cold and bloody, yet he looks 
The Hero— 

CHORUS. 
So mould a Saxon fall* 

SOLDIER. 

His faithful people 
With fury rufh'd around him, tore his body 
From the furrounding warriors-^now they bear 

him 
In mournful filence to his lofty halls, 
And hafte to lay him 'midft his brave forefathers* 

CHORUS. 
Soldier, let Moina hear the fate of Harold. 

SEMI-CHORUS, 



6i> 

SEMI-CHORUS. 

Softly ftrike the harp 

And wake the founds of woe, 

Harold falls, 

His limbs are cold, 

The purple flream has ftain'd 

His golden hair. 

See at the feftive board 

His faithful warriors fit, 

In vain they cad their eyes around 

To meet their chieftain's looks ; 

Sorrow glooms their fouls 

And daflies from their lips 

The fparkling fhell. 

The hunter's horn refounds, 
The (lout dogs leap around 
And feek their chief, 
No more fhall Harold's voice 
Be heard the woods among. 



The 



The famifh'd eagle fcreams 
And afks his wonted food, 
No more mall Harold's arm. 
Prepare the feaft of flain. 

Yet not to Hela's dark abode 
Our chieftain's foul is fled, 
He rifes on the ruining blaft 
And feeks Valhalla's halls. 



The End of the Firll Aft. 



MOINA. 



64f 
MOINA, CARRIL. 

MOINA. 

Welcome my Carril to thy Moina's arms, 

Now am I thine my love ; th' approaching night 

Shall (hade us flying to our native country ; 

Again my aged father fhall behold 

His happy daughter, and the facred druid 

Shall hear our holy vow — The chief is fall'n. — 

CARRIL. 
Thou unfeen power, when deep defpair far- 
rounds us, 
When the black night of woe o'erfhades the foul 
Sudden thou fhin'ft amidft furrounding horror. 
The darknefs flies, and keened joy breaks in 
Upon the grief worn mind, — The prophetefs 
Foreboded Harold's death — 

MOINA. 

And 'tis accomplifh'd, 
Blefs'd be the arm which cleav'd his hated heart- 
Did 



65 



Did fhe not promife fafety to our flight, 
And future days of joy ? — tell, tell me all. 

CARR1L. 
My hafty fteps foon reach'd the gloomy wood 
I fought, and ftruggling thro' the thorny paths 
I mark'd a craggy roek whofe broken fummit 
Was veil'd by creeping fhrubs — it's bottom 

yawn'd 
And fhew'd a deep dark gulph — I fearlefs en- 

ter'd, 
And with extended arms I trac'd my way, 
For there no beam of light was feen to glimmer 
Save from pale flames by magic fong enkindled ; 
While thus advancing flow, a cold fhrunk hand 
Caught mine, a hoarfe voice thus addrefs'd me, 
Who art thou, man, that dar'ft with impious ftep 
Difturb my filent dwelling ? Speak or periflu 
Mildly I anfwer'd, prophetefs, a ftranger, 
A miferable ftranger feeks thy aid ; 
O tell me, I conjure thee, by thy gods, 
If Harold's doom be feal'd, if forrowing Moina 

K Shall 



66 



Shall e'er behold again her native home 

And dwell with Carril? — Hence, away, fhe cries, 

I know thee now, — I hate the foe of Harold; 

With that I forward rufh'd, and in my arms 

Seizing the prophetefs, I cried aloud 

Unfeeling woman, tell me what I afk, 

Or from thy feeble body foon thefe arms 

Shall force thy ftubborn foul. — My fon, (he faid, 

Forbear, I yield, thy bravery has won me, 

Approach — within my cave a new flain corfe, 

Borne by my fpirits from the field of flaughter, 

Yet bleeds — this day he fell by Harold's fide, 

The foul is feated in Valhalla's halls, 

But by my potent art I'll call it back, 

Force it to animate the bloody limbs 

And truly anfwer thy demands. — She fpake, 

And blue light flafh'd around me ; I beheld 

The bleeding man — with hoarfe rough voice 

0ie 'gan 
To (bund the Runic rhyme, and finging ftill, 

The 

To found the Runic rhyme,'] <« The northern nations held 
their Runic verfes in fuch reverence, that they believed 

them 



61 



The corfe uprear'd his head and clotted hair, 
And flowly cafl his ghaftly eyes around, 
Then funk again, as if the foul had fear'd 
To animate a hateful mangl'd body 5 
The prophetefs obferv'd him, and in wrath 

She- 



them fufficient (provided they were pronounced with 
great emotion of mind) to raife the ghofts of the departed, 
and that without other magical rites ; efpecially if the 
party had worked himfeif up into a firm perfuafion, that 
it would happen according to his defires." 

Five pieces of Runic poetry, p. 6. 

The following is a fpedmen of an incantation of this 
kind : — " May the poifon of ferpents and noxious flame 
torment you all within your ribs unlefs you give me the 
fword," &c. 

Herv. Saga (as quoted in the above work). 

The language in which the earlieft poetical productions 
of the Goths was compofed, and of which we have ftill 
fome remains in the Sagas of the Scalds, was the Icelandic; 
this language, fuppofed to have been fpoken in the 
greateft purity in Iceland, prevailed in the north of 
Europe very extenfively, and may be confidered as the 
mother of the modern Swedifh and Danifh diale&s : the 

characters 

K2 



6S 



She feiz'd a living fnake and lafh'd his limbs— 
Uprofe the corfe, his languid eyes he fix'd 
On me, thus fpeaking — Tell me, CarriJ, quickly, 
For well I know thee, Carril, what's thy plea- 
fur e ? 
Difmifs me hence with fpeed to Odin's board. 
Warrior, I faid, is Harold's death decreed ?— 



chara&ers originally ufed in writing it were called Runic,* 
a term which tho' it was at firfb confined to defign thofe 
characters only, was afterwards applied to exprefs the 
Icelandic language and literature in general.f 

The Runic language and characters were introduced 
into England by our Saxon Anceftors ; fufficient proof 
of this may be deduced from the ancient Runic manu- 
fcripts, infcriptions, &c. which have been difcovered 
both in England and Scotland;]; before the feventh cen- 
tury however the ufe of the Runic characters, which were 
then deemed impious, appears to have been difcontinued. 



* The word Runic is derived from Ryn, (Icelandic) fignifying 
■a. furrow — Olaus Wormius. 

f See Preface to Five Pieces of Runic Poetry. 

t Hickes* Thefaurus, Par. I. and III. Archceol. Vol. II. 4to. 

J773« 

He 



69 



He bleeds, he bleeds, I fee him fall 

On the corfe-fpread plain- 
Send me back to halls of joy — 
Yet fpeak, fhall Moina with her Carril dwell ? 

E'er the fetting fun fhall fhoot 

His reddeft rays acrofs the waves 

Moina' s woes fhall be at peace— 

I go, I go to halls of joy — 
He faid and fmiling fullenly, fell lifelefs; 
Then from the cave with panting breaft I haften'd 
To bear the wifh'd-for tidings to my Moina. 

MOINA. 

Again my country's gods look down and fmile 
Upon our future days. — Retire, my Carril, 
Inftantly quit the caflle and attend me 
In the dark dell which borders on the wood 
Some two miles off. — The followers of Harold, 
Who flowly bear his body to the grave, 
Are near at hand, and when the chief is laid 
At peace, I'll Ileal unnotic'd from the walls, 
And fly on love-wing'd ftep to Carril's arms, 

[Carril goes out. 
Now 



70 



Now hafle, ye tardy minutes, till the dews 
Of evening fall, arife ye floating clouds, 
And Ihroud the filver moon in welcome dark- 
nefs — 

MOINA, CHORUS. 

CHORUS. 
Lady, the foldiers bear our chieftain's body 
Within our caflle gates, the grave is ready, * 
The holy rites prepar'd, we wait thy prefence, 

MOINA. 

My prefence, venerable man, and wherefore ? 

CHORUS. 

Know'ft thou not then the cuftom of our land ? 
The laws which ages paft have render'd facred ? 
Know' ft thou not, lady, with her hufband's body 
The wife is buried, that in other worlds 

He 

The wife is buried.'] This barbarous practice is recorded 
in Mallet's Northern Antiquities, vol. 1, p. 342 — to the 

authorities 



71 



He dill may (hare her fond embraces, dill 
May dwell with her delighted ? 

MOINA. 

Buried, fay'ft thou? 

CHORUS. 

Buried — our laws have fo decreed it, lady, 
And their decrees unalterably Hand : 
Hade then with Harold to the courts of blifs, 
Hafte to the feaft of gods — 

MOINA. 

Have pity on me— 
Spare, fpare my life — O fave a helplefs woman, 



authorities there quoted for it may be added Saxo Gram- 
maticus de Danis, Lib. 8, and Strabo, Lib. 7. 

The Goths appear to have inherited this inhuman cuf- 
tom from their Scythian anceftors j Herodotus fpeaking 
of the Scythian funerals, fays, 

Ek «Tg tm Ao/xm ivpv^apivi rm QtlKtlC Tc-jy TeiKhctKZav Tg piM 

&7ro7rvi!;am$ § amove i y km Toy oivoyjzov t &c. 

Melpomene 17^ 

Hadft 



72 



Hadft thou but ofFer'd death when Harold led 

me 
A weeping captive from my native more, 
With joy I'd follow'd to the grave — but now — ■ 
What horrors burft around me I — Curfes, curfes 
Fall on thy nation — was it not enough 
To drag me from a father's arms, to force me 
All-fhudd'ring to the conqueror's hated bed? 
Mufl the fame grave receive us? — Save me, 

fave me. 

CHORUS. 

Lady, the law mufl be obey'd, I cannot. 

MOINA. 

Where mall my tortur'd bofom turn for aid ? 
Is there no arm to fave, no heart to pity E 

CHORUS. 
Death cannot be avoided, 



MOINA. 



73 



MOINA. 

Carril, Carril, 
Is this our promis'd joy ? accurft forebodings, 
And did ye raife our fouls to plunge them down 
To deeper bale ? My father — wretched man — 
Soon wilt thou meet me — foon will Carril hail 
His faithful Moina in the cloudy hall 
Of feeble ghofts — hafte, hafte ye dearly-lov'd, 
God of my fathers, rife and aid my foul. 
Revenge, revenge my blood — 

CHORUS. 

Lady, no more, 
I mud command obedience. 

[Leads her off* 



Harold's 



74 



Harold's body is carried by his Soldiers acrofs the 
jlage, Moina follows ; the Chorus Jiop and Jing 
the funeral Jong. 

SEMI-CHORUS. 
Who fleps on the glittering bridge 
That leads to the manfion of gods ? 
*Tis Harold — undaunted in fight, 
He fmil'd at the fhivering of fpears, 
He fell in the clafliing of arms. 
Rife, Odin, rife, 
See, he enters thy mining abodes 
And terrible fits by thy fide. 

Who lifts the gold-tipt horn 

Of mantling mead ; 

Harold lifts the gold-tipt horn 

Of mantling mead. 

Happy he who fighting falls, 

Happy in the battles clangour 

To feel the quivering dart. 

When 



75 



When the hunter's fpear has pierc'd 

The roe-buck's mottled fide, 

Down from the furnmit of the rock 

He falls, and falling dies ; 

His dark grey eyes for ever clofe, 

No more he fees the grafly hill, 

No more he feeks the gufhing fpring, 

But finks to endlefs night - a 

When Vithri drives the fpear of fate 

Deep in the hero's fteel-clad breaft, 

His foul immortal mounts on high 

And climbs the airy hall of gods ; 

There in Pleafure's lap he lies 

J Till Surtur's flames confume the world, 

Vithri,'] A name of Odin, 



L 2 SEMI-CHORUS. 



16 



SEMI-CHORUS. 
From the four regions of the Iky 
The white fnow falls, 
And winter binds in thick ribb'd ice 
The floating world — 
Who rears the bloody hand ? 
A brother in his brother's heart 
Has plung'd the fpear; 
Who rears the bloody hand? 
A father in his daughter's heart 
Has plung'd the fpear. 

Where are thy beams, O fun? 
Where is thy filver fhield, 

O moon ? 
The glittering ftars fall from the cope of 

heav'n— 
'Tis darknefs all — the firm earth (hakes, 



From the four regions of the fey.~] The Chorus here be- 
gins to defcribe the Ragnarockur, or Twilight of the Gods, 
and continues the defcription to the end of the Ode. 

The 







77 



The lofty mountain's thundering ruffi 
Upon the plains below — 
Old ocean heaves his waves, 
And tempelis howl around. 

See Fenris burfls his chain 
His eye-balls fiafh, 
His noftrils breathe 
Deftructive fire. 

From the Serpent's iron jaws 
Floods of poifon roll — 
Hark — the cralh of heav'n, 
It cleaves, it cleaves, 
Spirits of fire arife 
And hurl their burning brands, 

Fenris burjis his chain. J Fenris was an enormous and 
terrible wolf, at the Ragnarockur he was to break his 
chains and attack the gods. 

Theferpent's iron jarvs.~] The ferpent's name was Mid- 
gard, he was twilled round the whole earth, and was 
deftined, like Fenris, finally to war with the gods. 

Surtur 



78 



Surtur at their head — 

Before him flafli his dazzling arms a 

Behind him flies refiftlefs flame. 

Heimdal lifts the brazen trump 

And blows the blaft of war, 

Heaven's folid pillars fhake— 

Odin calls — he grafps his lance 

And ftrikes his golden fhield — 

Heimdal founds the brazen trump*— 

The gods Hart up and feize their fparkling 

arms. 
Heimdal founds the brazen trump— 
Odin's heroes rufh to battle, 
And jarring hauberks ring. 

CHORUS. 
In burniuVd mail fhall Harold ftand, 
Foremofl in th' embattled ranks 



Heimdal.] Heimdal was the ccntinel of Valhalla, and 
god of the fky. 

His 






19 

His arm (hall wing the hilling dart 
Nor dread the flames around ; 
Then fhall he fighting fall again, 
And link amid the war of gods, 
Amid the crulh of worlds. 

The Chorus proceed to the grave with Harold. 

CHORUS returning. 
Dark, dark is Moina's bed, 
On earth's hard lap fhe lies ; 
Where is the beauteous form 
That heroes lov'd ? 
Where is the beaming eye, 
The ruddy cheek ? 
Cold, cold is Moina's bed. 

And fhall no lay of death 
With pleafing murmur footh 
Her parted foul ? 
Shall no tear wet the grave 
Where Moina lies ? 

The 



80 



The bards fhall raife the lay of death, 
The bards fhall footh her parted foul. 
And drop the tear of grief 
On Moina's grave. 

The lily bows her head 

Before the fummer-gale, 

The green earth killing, 

But fwift the fummer-gale is fled, 

Again the flower uplifts her fnowy crefl 

And drinks the air ferene.— 

Before the breath of woe 

The foul of Moina bow'd, 

It bow'd and rofe no more. 



High o'er its banks the rapid river fwells 

And flows impetuous on the plain — 

The poplar meets the rufhing wave 

And bends it tender ftem— 

The waters pafs — 

The plant uprears its pliant trunk 

And fhoots aloft ; 



The 



81 



The plant uprears its verdant tufts, 
And fpreads its light green leaves 
To meet the warmth of heav'n. 
Before the tide of woe 
The foul of Moina bow'd, 
It bow'd and rofe no more. 

Frea from Valhalla's groves 

Mark'd the grief of Moina's foul 

And dropp'd the golden tear; 

Now fhe quits the groves of blifs, 

And haftes to meet her favour'd child 

At heav'n's firm-built gates. 

With her rofy hand fhe grafps 

Moina's clay-cold palm, 

Swift thro* her frame cceleftial vigour fhoots, 



The golden tear.] Frea's tears were fabled to be drops 
of gold. 

To meet her favour } d child.] « Habebat," fays Keyfler, 
€i etiam Frea palatia fua quibus defun&as excipiebat,." 
To this palace of Frea, virgins, and wives who bad died 
with their hufbands, were admitted, 

M Cceleftial 



82 

Coeleftial beauty beams 
In Moina's eyes. 

Fair flower, no more the blaft of woe 
Shall fhake thy tender form, 
Secure in Frea's grove 
Thy bloom fhall fade no more. 



SEMI-CHORUS. 
Did'ft thou not notice, e'er the grave was clos'd 
On Moina, that fhe beckon'd to a fervant 
And whifper'd him ? Quick in the crowd he 
vanifh'd. * 

SEMI-CHORUS. 
I did, and wonder'd much what care intruding 
Could for a moment draw her thoughts from 

death ; 
*Till then in filent grief (he Hood, her eyes 
Fall rooted on the ground. 



SEMI-CHORUS. 



83 



SEMI-CHORUS. 

And when the earth 
Was caft upon her as we held her flruggling 
By Harold's fide, fhe call'd aloud on Carril — 

CHORUS, CARRIL. 

CARRIL. 
Who calls on Carril ? fpeak, ye wretches, fpeakj 
Where is my Moina ? 

CHORUS. 

Moina is no more, 
She lies by Harold's fide. — 

CARRIL. 

Inhuman monfters — 
Hafle, hafte, and lead me to her grave, perhaps 
She yet may breathe, her bofom yet — 

CHORUS. 

M2 



84 
CHORUS, 



Be calm, 



CARRIL. 
Ye wretches lead me to the grave, once more 
I'll clafp her cold cold breaft, kifs her pale lips > 
And perifh with my Moina. 

CHORUS. 

With thy Moina ? 

CARRIL. 

Yes, fhe was mine, till thy accurfed chief, 
God of my fathers, thou hall flain the robber— 
'Till thy accurfed chief in forrow dragg'd her 
To thefe detefted walls — I am her lover — 
I am Carril — 

CHORUS. 

Carril! 

CARRIL. 



85 



CARRIL. 

Yes, wretches, yes — 
Think not, O Moina, that thou fall' it alone ; 
I hafte to meet thee, Carrii hafles to join 
Thy gloomy ghoft ; foon ihall our airy forms 
A mournful conference hold, ride on the blaft 
And hover o'er our country — there we'll trace 
Thy father's ileps — together will we crofs 
The well-known hills, and liften to the torrent— 
The aged bards ihall iing our woes by night, 
We'll bend from clouds of miit and eager catch 
The dying notes. — I come, I come, my love, 
With iteps of ipeed I'll feek the rocks high 

fummit 
And plunge to death below. 

CHORUS. 
When from the foe's bright fpear 
The foldier trembling turns, 
When cold fear ihakes his foul 
And blaits his itrength, 
No more he'll hear the fong of praife, 

No 



S6 



No more he'll tell his liftening child 

The bloody tale of war ; 

The fecret vale receives 

His flow and fullen fleps ; 

He hates the warrior's eye, 

He hates the maiden's look. 
Then let fhame his bofom fire, 
Lead him to the lofty rock, 
And plunge him from the airy height^ 

To death below. 

When the hero's giant-form. 

With ficknefs droops, 

When his broad and finewy arm 

Shrunk and trembling fails, 

When that firm bread which dar'd the dart 

The figh of languor heaves, 

Lead him to the lofty rock.'] — 

Mirus amor populo, cum pigra incanuit astas, 

Imbellos jamdudum annos prxvertere saxo. 

Sil, Ital. Lib. $• 

When 






87 



When thofe ftrong knees which rufh'd to war 
Labouring fink beneath his weight, 
When death has rais'd his clay-cold hand 
To touch the warrior's heart, 
Then let him drag his faltering limbs 
To fome huge rock's outftretching cliff, 
And from the airy fummit plunge 
To death below. 

When from the aged father's arms 
The child is torn, 
Forlorn he wanders on the heath, 
His white hair waving in the wind- 
Forlorn he feeks the hill 
His child has trod, 
And wipes the falling tear; 
Anguifh gnaws his heart, 
And flowly drags his frame 

To Hela's halls— 
Hafte, hafte and feek the lofty rock, 
There from its airy fummit plunge 

To death below. 

When 



/ 



88 



When o'er the flifPned corfe 

The lover bends, 
And weeps his miftrefs dead, 
Now clinging to her chilly breaft, 
Now preffing to his trembling lips 

Her faded cheek ; 
No more her blue eyes tell 
The tender tale, 

No more her filver-founding voice 
Shall murmur in his ear — 
In fpeechlefs agony he hangs upon her-— 
Awake, awake, and from that form belovM 
Snatch thy di drafted foul, 
Halle, hafte and feek the lofty rock, 
There from its airy fummit plunge 

To death below. 



THE END. 



OSWALD. 



MOJVODRA MA. 



Prodiga gens animoe & properare facillima mortem, 
Namque ubi tranfcendit fiorentes viribus annos, 
Impatiens Devi, fpernit novifle fenec"lam 
Et fati modus in dextra eft. 

SILIUS ITALICUS, 



«WVv>-<^- 



N 



INTRODUCTION. 



' | 'HE Monodrama is a fpecies of play, which 
has not yet, as far as I am able to difcover, 
been attempted by Englilh writers *: it was pro- 
bably too fimple to engage their attention, or 
they might imagine it little calculated to gratify 
a people who are fond, perhaps to excefs, of the 
buftle of incident and intricacy of plot. Though 
the neglect of it cannot be confidered of much 
importance, yet we find many of thefe poems 
among the Germans, French and Italians, which 
are exceedingly intereiling both in the clofet and 
the theatre. When reprefented on the ftage, 
the Monodrama is ufually declaimed' with inter- 
vals of mufick. 



* Since the above was written, many pleanng Mono* 
dramas have been publiihed in this country.. 



N2 The 



92 



The ftory of the following piece is this. — 
Ofwald, a Gothic Chieftain, opprefs'd at once 
by old age and a painful difeafe, exerts his re- 
maining flrength to die in a manner which was 
efteemed highly honourable by his countrymen, 
and was alfo believed to entitle him to a feat in 
Valhalla. 



OSWALD. 



OSWALD, 



^^^^SfcA*-^ 



SCENE, an inner-room, Ofwald on a conchy his 
armour lying near him : rijingjloxvly, he begins. 



H 



ENCE, hence, ye languid groans, ye rack- 

ing pangs, 
That flowly drag the trembling frame of Ofwald 
To thofe accurfed climes where Hela reigns 
Stern on her icy throne — thou quivering arm ! 
Oft have I feen thee in the battle's rage 
Bedew' d with red heart's blood — ye tottering 

knees ! 

Oft 



94< 



Oft have ye flood unmov'd by preflTing hods, 
Oft have ye waded thro' the fleaming field, 
Trampling the mangled corfes of my foes ; — 
Why fhake ye thus ? — difeafe with poifon'd 

breath 
My firm nerves withers— and mall Ofwald then 
Sink, tamely fink to everlafling night ?— - 
Shall feeble age with lingering hand conduct him 
To the bleak regions girt with flubborn fro ft ? 
And bend this warlike heart in marly chains 
Of folid ice ? — what ? — mail the holy bards 
Who fing my glorious deeds, thus end the fong ? 
Alas! he dar'd not match the joys of heaven, 
But meanly fell, the prey of age and ficknefs ? 
Why have I liv'd ?-— fhake, fhake; ye palfied 

limbs — 
Pant, pant, thou fainting breafl, old Ofwald's 

foul 
Is yet untouch'd, awake, awake, it cries, 
And fpeed me hence to Odin's echoing halls ; 
Who yet can boall amid his fpoils of war 

A 



95 



& trophy from my mail ? — what dark-brow'd 

chief 
E'er yet beheld me turning from the combat ? 
And mail that heart, which laugh'd at fear and 

danger 
Yield, poorly yield, to pain? — it mud not be-^- 
While yet my hand has flrength, I'll rear the 

fword, 
And die a foldier in my glittering arms. 
Yes, 'tis decreed — my helmet, fhade again 
Thy mailer's (ilver locks-— from thy hard fides 
Oft has the gleaming fpark burft forth amid 
The tempeft of the fight — thou fleel-ribb'd 

cuirafs, 
Come to my breafl again — how many a dart 
Has hifs'd acrofs thee, which thy firm-knit 

plates 
Drove from my glowing heart ? now loofe and 

yielding 
Thou (halt protect no more — again I raife 
The weighty fhield, whofe dim reflecting orb 
?o pft has fhot a purple beam deep-dy'd 

With 



96 



With hoftile blood — and thou, O faithful fteel, 
Who ne'er haft fail'd thy matter's vigorous arm 
When rear'd to ftrike, fwift fpeed me to the 

gods, 
Pierce, pierce me deep, thy blade was never wet 
With braver blood than that which warms my 

heart. 

Father of gods ! when Ofwald quits the earth, 
Rear thou my orphan boy — how oft I've fmil'd 
To fee his tender fingers grafp the fpear, 
And his young fmews ftruggling to uplift 
His father's folid fhield ; to thee, O Odin, 
I early gave him : teach him, like his fire, 
To fcorn the coward's name, to joy in battle, 
And when his warlike years have run in glory, 
Give him a happy death in fields of blood. 
My daughter too — begone, unmanly drops, 
Nor cloud my dying hour — may Frea love her, 



/ early gave him."] This alludes to a Gothic cuftom of 
dedicating male infants to Qdin 9 



o 



Form 



91 

Form her foft limbs to grace and lead ber forth 
The blufhing prize of valour — Ah ! — I faint !— 
What deadly throes deep tear me! — 'tis enough— 
My firength ebbs quickly — now, thou trembling 

arm, 
Feel my foul's lateft fire. 

[He Jlabs himfelf. 
Yes, friendly fteel, thy fearching point is moid 
With Ofwald's blood. 

[After a paufe. 
— What glorious vifions rife ! 
I fee the feflive gods at Odin's board ! 
I hear the fplendid warrior's gladfome din. 
Yon golden feat is vacant — 'tis for me — 
I come, I come, the gloom of death has wrapt 
My eyes in mill;. — Hark, hark ! — the notes of joy 
Die on my ear — and now a louder peal 
Burfts on my fluttering foul — 

[He dies* 

THE END. 

O 



STARNO. 



T R A G E D r. 



$su* <ptv* toJ^ civ vioyjwv ZK^oyjtM 

'ETS/C^Spgl 9g©" K&KOV— 
Tp5/£ OVTdLS COXlVlV. 

EURIPIDES. 



02 



INTRODUCTION. 



A 



LTHOUGH it was principally my inten- 
tion, in writing thefe pieces (as I have obferved 
in the preface) to attempt a poetical fketch of 
the Gothic mythology, yet I could not, con- 
fidently with the characters in Moina, avoid 
making fome allufions to the religion of the 
Celts. The fuperftitions of both nations pre- 
vailed at the fame period, and have frequently, 
though errroneoufly, been confounded : I have 
been induced therefore to add to this feries of 
Plays the following Poem, in which I have con- 
fined myfelf as much as poilible to a delineation 
of Celtic mythology. — This mythology indeed 
by no means rivals the Gothic in magnificence, 
and fome of its inltitutions and ceremonies have 
already been difplayed in the admirable tragedy 
of Caraclacus ; yet there flill appeared to me 

parts 



102 



parts of it untouched, which might be brought 
forward in dramatic poetry with tolerable effect. 



The (lory of the following tragedy is fictitious 
but I hope not entirely inconuftent with the 
manners and cufloms of the Celtic people. It 
is written on the Greek model, and the Odes are 
without rhymes 



: 



PERSONS OF THE PLAY. 



Starno, 1 

> Britons* 
Daura, J 

Kelric, a Saxon* 

Chorus of Druids. 

PLA CE— BRITAIN* 



act I. 

SCENE, A wood and an altar; a distant prospect of 
Starnd's castle, 

CHORUS. 
SEMI-CHORUS. 



i 



N the dark covert of thefe facred fhades 

I wait* 



CHORUS,'] Three orders of men, compofing one body, 
and generally confounded under the common appellation 
of Druids*, had engrofled to themfelves an aftonifhing 
degree of power and influence among the Celtic nations : 
they were at once the teachers of youth, the diftribu- 
tors of juftice, and the minifters of religion, and fuch as 
attempted to refill their authority, were inftantly 
crufhed by a fentence of excommunication, which banifh- 
ed them from public facrifices, ftripped them of their dig- 

* The word Druid feems to be derived from Deru, (Celtic) an 
oak,— See Druid, orig. in the Delphi Phcenicizantes of Dickinfon. 

"P nities 



106 
I wait, with reftlefs trembling expectation, 



The 



nities, and held them tip as contagious and impious 
wretches, to be fhunned and detefted by fociety *. 

The three dalles of men who constituted this formidable 
body, are divided by ancient writers, into Druid's, 
or administrators of juflice and teachers of Theology ; 
Bards or Poets ; and Vaides, or Priefts and Diviners.— 
Diodorus Siculus (Lib. v.) gives the following de- 
fcription of them : — 

ci<Ti <N x.a.1 Trap etvrois (the Gauls or Celts) Kctt voiiirat 
(j.iAcov ow; (iapfovf ovoy.a^ovo'iv, ovtoi JV y.zr opyctvav Tcus 

Xvo&tt 0[AOIW cLtPoVTZf OVi y.lV V[XVQV(TIV hv$ £'* ChtLCrQ-A{J.OV<?t 9 

(pihocroqoi ef's Ttva <n<ri x.ai Qzohoyoi «V <retpovtS i a.f\' QMjm\wvt» 
yjpuvT&t JV iJ.avTiviVj aroi £z S'/et ts otavoffKoiriets nctt <Pic& 
tws ray hpuav Qvcnas tcl piKKovTA wpohzy overt. 

Strabo alfo 1 (Lib. iv.) claffes them nearly in a fimilar 
manner under the heads of Bctp£oi% poets and muficians, 
Ot/etTS/f priefts, and Apvi^a teachers of morals and philo- 
fophy. 

* Casfar de Bell. Gallic. Lib. 6.— Plinii Hill. Natur. Lib. 16 
and 4.6. — Lucan Pharfal. Lib. 1, 445, &c. — Schedius de Dis 
Germanis, p. 289 and following. (Elz. 1648.) 

t This is fuppofed to be a corruption in the original text, and 
fhould be read cPcqw/JW (or fyviJ'cx) 
% Seealfo Athenaei Deipnofophift. (Cafaubon. 1597, p. 246.) 

For 






107 



The joyful tidings of our chieftain's conqueft; 

No 



For the fulleft, and probably the mofl authentic ac- 
count, however, of the fyftem of Barclifm, the public is 
indebted to the refearches of Mr. Owen*: from this 
well-informed writer we learn, that under the generic 
term Bard, three clafles of men were included, the Bards 
Braint, the Bards Druid, and the Ovydd\^ the former of 
thefe he tells us were civil magiftrates and judges J, the 
next order Priefts, and the third an executive power at- 
tached to the others; each clafs was diftinguifhed by its 
peculiar habit, the drefs of the Bards Braint was of a fky- 
blue colour, that of the Druids white§, and that of the 
Ovydds green. All thefe clafles were felefted at the plea- 
fure of the Bards from their awenyddion or pupils ; the 
elections were made publicly at a gorfedd or meeting of 
Bards which was held every three months at fixed places, 

* Translation of Llywarc's Heroic Elegies. 

f Vaides, and OvctTU? above are probably corruptions of the 
word Ovydd. 

% The places in which the courts of juftice met, were fome of 
thofe circles of ftones well known by the name of " Druidical 
Circles.'" King's Muniment. Antiq. vol. I, p. 153 and 155. 

§ The reft of their cofthume is thus defcribed by Selden, 
" Nudis pedibus, barba ad inguina ufque promhTa & circa naris 
filtulas bifurcata, in manibus liber & baculus Diogenicus. 

Janus Anglic. Lib. 1. 

P2 in 



108 



No more the voice of woe fhall chill our hearts, 

No 



in the open air ; lC but the fyftem of Bardifm," fays Mr. 
Owen, " having now fallen into almoft total oblivion, 
poetry is the only chara&eriftic by which the ancient 
Barz is recognized by the vulgar of the prefent time *." 

As feveral of the Gods of the Britons, which will be 
noticed in the fequel, were unqueflionably Syriac deities, 
and (as we may thence infer) introduced into this illand 
by the Phoenicians, who had certainly a frequent inter- 
courfe with Britainf , at a very early period of time, fo it 
is alfo highly probable that fome of the Druidical do£lrines 
and rites, (fuch as the metempfychofisj, the facri- 
fice of living men, &c.§) as well as the regular 
fyftem of Bardifm, were likewife gathered from the fame 
people ; and with refpett to the latter, I hope that I 

* Welch and Englifh Dictionary. 

f Ariftot. Mirab. Aufcult. (Duval, torn. II. p. 724..)— 
Bochart de Phoenic. Coloniis Lib. I. cap. xxxix. — Gale's Court 
of the Gentiles, B. 1. c. 9. 

I This celebrated doctrine (probably received by Pythagoras 
from his Phoenician teacher Pherecydes) prevailed much in Syria 
at a very early period ; it was adopted by the Druids in its fullelt 
extent, as appears from Caefar (Bell. Gallic. Lib. IV. 14) and 
from Diodorus Siculus, Lib. V. 

§ See Brucker. Hift. Philofoph. Pars. I. Lib. II, c. ix.— Juftin 
Lib. XVIII. 6, and a fubfequent note on this fubjeft in this 
work. 

fhall 



109 
No more the flying Briton here (hall hade 



With 



fhall not be deemed fanciful in afferting that the refem- 
blance between the College of the Bards* and the facred 
Colleges of the Jews + is too ftriking to be confidered 
as merely the effect, of chance, and if it were not the effect 
of chance, the knowledge of this regular plan of educa- 
tion could in all probability only have reached Britain 
through the medium of the Phoenicians. 

I am aware that an ingenious writer in the Afiatic Re- 
fearches J afferts in the mod pofitive terms that the 
Druids were Bramins, and that many of the Celtic fuper- 
ftitions may be traced to Hindoflan ; this opinion, at lean: 
in part, appears to be well founded, for although the 
progrefs of the Celtic nations into Europe is involved in 
great darknefs, yet no doubt I think can be reafonably 
entertained of their having been originally emigrants from 
the Eafi\ ; whatever mythology however the Celts of 
Britain may have brought with them into this ifland ; the 
authorities hereafter to be adduced, will certainly render 
it probable at leaft that this mythology underwent confider- 
able changes from their intercourfe with the Phoenicians. 

* Welch and Englifh Dictionary, word Barz. 

•f Lewis's Hebrew Antiquities, vol. i. 

X Vol. II. (4-to. Edit.) p. 488. 

§ From the hiftorical documents which we now poffefs, no 
certain information can be derived (as I have obferved above) 
refpecting the time of this emigration, or the precife place from 
which it proceeded j the earlieft accounts of the Celts which are 

tranfmitted 



110 



With fear-wing'd flep to hide his fainting limbs, 
And tell the hateful tale of flaughter'd friends — 



tranfmitted down to us by ancient writers, are thofe of their 
warlike exploits, in which they appear in Grecian and in Roman 
ftory, by the names of Celtae, Galli, Galatse, Cumri, &c. from 
the fame authors we have alfo received fome (ketches of their 
manners, but of their origin, nothing decifive ; ftill however, 
from the ilriking refemblance of the Celtic tongue to fome of 
thofe of the Eaft, from the fimilarity to be traced in certain Celtic 
and Eaftern buildings, from the refemblance between the Celtic 
and Oriental games, coins, modes of trial, (as the ordeal) names 
of ftars, aftronomical inftruments, &c. — (independent of fome 
peculiarities in the Druidical mythology, borrowed from the 
Phoenicians) — from all thefe circumftances, I fay, we have fuf- 
ficient grounds for believing that the Celts were originally an 
oriental people. 

Proofs of the refemblances mentioned in the preceding note 
will be found in Governor Pownal's obfervations on the Punic 
Scene in Plautus — in Gregory Sharped Letters on the He- 
brew Tongue, (Letter VII.) in King's Munimenta Antiqua 
(Preface, and concerning Syrian Buildings, and p. 190 and p. 292, 
Vol. I.)— in the Afiatic Refearches (Vol. I. p. 389, Vol.11, 
p. 479, 489, Vol. III. p. 284, &c.) — in Schedius de Dis German, 
^remarks on the Druidical worfhip of the MifTeltoe) and in many 
other writers; and it may not be improper to obferve in this 
place, in the words of an antiquarian of great learning and 
talents, that " a ftriking and remarkable conformity is to be 
found in the manners of all thofe called Aboriginal people in every 
part of the earth, as to fome certain ufages j which therefore mew 
their original connexion with the few patriarchal families who 
firft re-peopled the globe.'* 

Soon 



Ill 



Soon, foon the ihout of vi&ory fhall burfl 
Upon our hallow'd groves ; in Starno's breafl 
The foul of Hefus breathes, to Starno's arm 
He gives refiftlefs flrength, his glaring eyes 
Shoot forth deftru&ive fire — well pleafed to hear 
Our chieftain's folemn vow, the god of battles 
Stalks by his fide amid the glittering ranks, 
And wields his maffy fword to ftrike for Britain, 

SEMI-CHORUS. 

Yes, holy man, the fearlefs foul of Starno 
Shall glut its vengeance in the gufhing blood 
Of foes ; but (till the image of his child 
Will haunt his gloomy mind, will gnaw his heart, 
And e'en amid the fhout of thronging warriors 

Hefus,^ Hefus was the Celtic God of war* ; human 
facrifices were offered to himf ; he agrees fo exaftly in his 
name and office with the Phoenician HuzzuzJ that no 
doubt can be entertained of their being the fame deities. 

# Caefar de Bell. Gallic. Lib. VI. 7, and fee the note in 
Grevius's edition on the word Martem, in the paifage referred to 
above. 

f Lucan Pharfal. Lib. I. — La&ant. Lib. I. c xxx* 

% Bochart de Phcenic. Coloniis.— Lib. 1, cap. xiii. 

The 



112 

The father flill mall heave the frequent figh ; 
O may fome happy hour again reftore 
The blooming Daura to his eager arms, 
And chafe the night of woe which fhades his 
foul! 

CHORUS, A SOLDIER. 
Ye facred men, I come with fpeedy ftep 
To tell the well-earn' d victory of Starno, 
Strike your loud-founding harps and raife the 

fong 
Of joy, your chief is ftain'd with Saxon blood : 

Long 

Your loud-founding harps.~\ It is by no means an im- 
probable conjecture that the harp or lyre ufed by the 
Bards,* was the Nabla of the Jews and Phoenicians, and 
borrowed from the latter of thefe nations ; the Bardic 
harp appears to have had many firings, and it was 
ftricken by the fingers and not by a ple&rumT ; fo far 
then it agrees with the following defcription of the Nabla 



* Arnmianus. Lib. XV.— Diod. Siculus, Lib. V. 
i King's Munimenta Antiqua. Vol. I. 99. 

given 



113 



Long did the battle rage, the clanging fhields 

Re-echo'd loud, the fwiftly darting fteel 

With fparkling fragments ftrew'd the fmoking 

earth, 
And clouds of arrows hurtled in the air- 
Then 



given by Jofephus (Antiq. Jud. Lib, VII. 12.) 

» £1 va,Ch& (PatPtK* y&oyyouf zyjtvtia., tqi<; <Pctx,TV\ol$ 

Mr. Harmer, indeed, in his very valuable " Obferva- 
tions on divers paffages of Scripture," has attempted to 
prove, contrary to the commonly received opinion, that 
the Nabla was a kind of bag-pipe ; but altho' one of the 
fignifications of the word 333 ^ ma y ^ eem to coun ~ 
tenance this opinion, and although the word a^iTcti (ufed 
by Jofephus above) may certainly exprefs the finking 
of the lingers on a wind inftrument as well as a ftringed 
onej; ; yet as this author connects his defcription of the 
Nabla with that of the jttuvpa, undoubtedly a ftringed 
inftrument, and as Sopater (quoted by Athenaeus) fpeaks 

* See Bochart's remarks on this pafTage in his Treatife de, 
Phcenic. Coloniis, Lib. I. cap. xlii. 

•f- A (kin, or bag. 

X It is to be found with that meaning in Plutarch, Sec, 

O oj 



114 



Then in the thickeft ranks was Starno feen 
Strong as a god he wing'd his bickering blade, 
And fpread the gory field with mangled foes, 
The groans of death, the Britons' joyful fhout, 
Mix in the troubled fky — the Saxons trembled — ■ 
They fled the murdering fpear. 

CHORUS. 

Halle, hafle, and with your glittering axes fell 
The waving branches of the facred oak, 
And twine the dark-green wreath of viftorjv 

SOLDIER. 

Yet hear — our foldiers fcarce had turn'd the 
Saxons 

of the Sidonian Nabla as capable of being unfirung* ; no 
reafonable doubt can remain refpe&ing the nature of that 
inflrument. 



Athenaei Deipnofoph. Lib. IV. 
And fee Cafaubon's remarks on this paflage in his Animadverf. 
in Athenaeum. 

When 



115 



When on the plain we fpied a youthful warrior 
Spurring his fteed to reach the Britifh camp, 
With him a woman fled — we quickly loft them 
Conceal'd behind our tents — when tir'd with 

flaughter 
Our conquering chief return'd, his darling child 
Rufh'd from the camp to meet him— Daura's 

charms 
Had won the Saxon chieftain's blooming fon 
To bear her back to Starno's aching heart, 
And yield himfelf a willing captive with her. 

CHORUS. 
This was beyond our hopes — but fee they come. 

CHORUS, STARNO, DAURA, KELRIC, 

CHORUS. 
Hail, Hefus, hail, 
By thee infpir'd, 

The mailed warrior dauntlefs braves 
The finging fpear and biting blade— 

Q2 Hail, 



116 

Hail, Hefus, hail, 

I fee thee climb 

Thy fcythed car 

And drive the furious deeds 

Amid the falling foe. 

Who dares to meet thine eyes of flame ? 

Who dares to brave thy falchion's edge 

The thunder-bolt of war ? 



Scythed car.^ The ancient Britons frequently fought 
In chariots armed with fcythes* ; thefe formidable inftru- 
ments of deftruftion were probably introduced into Bri- 
tain from Syria, where they were ufed at a very early 
period of timet ; the names at leafl of certain kinds of 
Britifh cars were undoubtedly Phoenician;};. 



* Casfarde Bell. Gallic. Lib. 4, 29. 

' Aut de temone Britanno. 

Excidet Arvigarus. 

Juvenal IV. 125. 

f Book of Jofhua, chapter XVI. 18 — Macrobii Saturnal. Lib 2. 

The ctpy.ctrct <tp<c7rctvw?opa, of the Eaft are noticed too 
by Polybius, (Lib. V. 53) and very accurately defcribed by 
Xenophon in the Anabafis, Lib I f 

X King's Munimenta Antiqua. Vol. I. p. 108— and fee in the 
fame work (a few pages before) a very amufing enquiry into the 
form of the ancient cars of Britain. 



Death 



117 

Death hovers round thy ftately creft j 
And poized fpear, 

While pale-ey'd Fear beflrides the blaft 
And fails before thy car, 

Raife aloft, Andate, raife 
Thy golden fhield — 

Andate.~] Andate or Andrafte was the Celtic Goddefs. 
of victory ; the Britons held her in great eflimation, and 
facrificed to her in groves called after her name*. The 
celebrated Boadicea is faid to have invoked this Goddefs 
before fhe began the conflict with the Romans. 

km yi (Zovvf'oix.a mv %$£?& $$ ?ov xpavov AvetTitvettra, ziirzy 
%ct?iv T5 croi zx cj » a ArcTpfiCcrT-Ji ic&t f 7r$o<;z'7rix,cLKovy.cLi <Ji yvvn 

yvVeUKtl. 

Dio Caffius (in Nerone). 

The Syrian Goddefs Afhtoreth or Aftarte, the armed or 
conquering Venus of the Phoenicians^ , who, like Andate, 
was chiefly worfhipped in woods, is evidently the proto- 
type of this Britifh Goddefs. 

* Milton's Hiftory of England— Britan. Antiq. Illuftrat. p. 37. 

fSelden de Dis Syriis Syntag. II. cap. ii. and Bochart de 
Phcenic. Coloniis, Lib. 1. cap. xlii. 

Loudly 



118 

Loudly ftrike its echoing brim 
And wake the found of victory— 
From the purple field it comes 
To pierce our holy groves- 
Rude it rufhes thro* the fhade, 
The roaring rocks return 
The joyful noife ; 

The warrior hears — he fhouts aloud 
And clangs his founding arms. 

STARNO. 

Ye venerable men, nor fongs of triumph, 
Nor fond endearments of a long-loft child 
Force from my ihuddering mind the bloody vow 
Thefe hallow'd groves have heard — the noblefl 

captive 
Is folemnly devoted to the god, 

DAURA. 



Devoted to the god.~j The facrifice of living men was 
efteemed by the Druids particularly acceptable to fome 
of their deities — « Hefum et Teutatem Deos," fays 
La&antius, « a Gallis humano cruore placatos," — A full 

account 



119 

DAURA. 
The noblefl captive ? — 

DRUID- 
Yes, lady, and the god demands his right, 
Our prayers were heard, he rais'd the arm of 
conquer!. 

DAURA. 



account of this horrid ceremony is to be feen in Csefar 
(de Bell. Gallic. VI.) and in Diodorus Siculus, (Lib. V.). 
Strabo, (Lib. II.) has recorded the precife mode in 
which the unhappy victims were put to death. 
AvQpcoTTov yap, fays he, KctTio-'Tnicynvov Tratravrts tt< vtorov 

filCf^Alpti, iy.&VTIVOVTQ ZK TX <?<*>&£&<?[*** . 

The perfons thus facrificed were frequently devoted to 
the gods either immediately before or after a battle. 

Mr. Owen (in his work above-mentioned) informs us, 
that thofe whom the Druids offered up to their deities 
were criminals only, and that the facrifices I am fpeaking 
of are therefore merely to be considered as public execu- 
tions of a moll ftriking and awful kind ; and Sammes fo 



* See in King's Munimenta Antiqua. Vol. I. a full defcriptior* 
of the cromlechs or altars ufed in thefe bloody facrifices, 

far 



120 



DAURA. 
My fearful foul beholds the gathering woe 
Which hades to overwhelm me. Father, father, 
Why doll thou call thy mournful eyes on Kenric ? 
Is he the noblefl captive ?-— doom'd to death ? — 

Away, 



far agrees with him as to affert that the chief of thofe who 
fufrered on thefe occalions were murderers and robbers ; 
but whatever circumftances may have occurred to foften 
the cruelty of this mode of worfhip in Britain, yet as it 
is to be found without any fuch alleviation among the 
Goths* and other European nationsf , we need not, I 
think, hehtate to believe that it was originally introduced 
from the Eaft, in which it prevailed but too generally^, 

* Bellum Hermunduris profperum, Cattis, exitiofum fait, cfaia 
vicfores diverfam aciem diis facravere, quo voto, equi, w'n., 
cundta vicla occidioni dantur. 

Tacitus— Annal. Lib. XIII. c. 57. 
See alfo Olaus Magnus, Lib. III. cap. 8. 

•j* It appears from Paufanias, Livy, Porphyry, and Clemens 
Alexandrinus, that human facrifices were offered both by the 
Greeks and Romans on extraordinary occafions. 

t EufebiiPraeparat. Evangel. Lib. IV. 16.-— Hyde, Religio vet. 
Perfar. 112.— The Rudheradhyaya or Sanguinary Chapter from 
the Calica Puran, (in Afiatic Refearches, Vol. V.) 

and 



121 

Away, away, who dares to touch my Kelric ? 

and that the Druids of Britain adopted it from the Phoeni- 
cians, who are well known to have offered human facri- 
fices to their god Moloch*. 

I cannot clofe this note without obferving, that the 
dreadful inftance above-mentioned (and many fimilar 
ones might be added to it) of the imbecility and wicked- 
nefs fhewn even by fome of the mofl polijhed and humane 
nations of antiquity in their attempts at religious worfhip, 
molt forcibly point out to us the necefjity of a Divine Re- 
velation; and that, not only for the fake of leading man to 
the proper Objeft of adoration, but for the no lefs impor- 
tant purpofe of inftru&ing him in the kind of worfhip 
which can alone be acceptable to fuch a Being as the 
Supreme.— -Accuftomed from our earlieft youth to the 
advantages which we enjoy in this refpeft, we do not per- 
haps fufficiently recollect, that without thofe inftru&ions 
w T hich we have derived from the Higheft Source, we 
might even at this day have been bowing down in a de- 
bafmg and bloody idolatry, or might only have broken 
the fetters of fuperftition, to have rufhed headlong into 
the bewildering mazes of a barren and comfortlefs fcep- 
ticifm. 



* $oivikz<; iv ran iJ.<tya.KdLi<; crvpyopciis n Trotey.sov, n ctv^yLcov-, 

tl Koiy.OOV, iSuOU TCOV (piXT&TCOV TlVd, 

Porphyrins de Abftinent. Lib. II. 
See in Milton's molt beautiful Hymn on the Nativity, a truly 
ftriking and poetic defcription of the facrifice to Moloch. 

R Who 



122 

Who dares to touch that Kelric who reftor'd 
His long-loft daughter to her father's arms ? 
That Kelric who entic'd by Daura's words 
Has quitted all for her ? 

CHORUS. 

Fair lady, peace, 
Hefus demands the blood we vow'd to him, 

KELRIC. 

Nor can the victim Tcape : the time was once 
When warlike Kelric would have fmil'd at death; 
Oft have 1 ruftVd amid th' embattled hoft, 
Nor fear'd the deadly dart, but now my foul 
Shrinks back with horror from the threatned blow 
Which parts me from my love. 

DAURA. 

No, Kelric, no, 
Thou fhalt not fall — who urg'd thy hafty fteps 
To feek the Briton's camp ? who won thy mind 
To fcorn the deareli ties of friends and country ? 

Who 



123 



Who fpurr'd thee on to death ? 'twas Daura's 

felf, 
'Twas Daura's foothing accents led her Kelric 
To thefe detefted groves — why deep thy gods ? 
Why does the lightning linger to deflroy 
This fatal fhrine? Arife, ye murderous priefls, 
Here plunge the holy knife: my dying pangs 
Shall pleafe the griefly god — fave, fave my 

Kelric. 

STARNO. 

Alas ! my child, the tempeft of deftru&ion 
Breaks terrible around us : would thefe lips 
Had clos'd for ever e'er the fatal vow 
Burft rafhly forth— why, Hefus, did the dart 
Avoid my bread ? why didfl thou turn the 

fpear 
From Starno's helm ? — had Saxons overwhelmed 

me 
And plung'd their thirfty weapons in my heart, 
Then had I 'fcaped thy hated gift of conqueft, 
And falling thank'd thee for a death of glory. 

R2 CHORUS, 



124 

CHORUS. 
We fee, with pity fee, the cruel pangs 
Which rack the foul of Daura, and thy woes, 
O chief, are great ; yet to the aiding god 
Obedient let us bend. 

STARNO. 

My child, my child, 
The dews of death are o'er her — fee, fhe faints, 
Retire, my Daura, piercing forrow fhakes 
Thy tender form — no, no, thou fhalt not perifti — ■ 
Sufpend the rites, ye priefts, and wait my 
orders. 

\Starno and Kelric go out* 



CHORUS. 



125 

CHORUS. 

Mark how the thickening tempeft fhades 

The facred wood ; 
The god. of battle frowns — 
What guilty wretch fhall dare 

To fnatch thy prey ? 
Fear (hall damp his fainting heart, 
Fear mail wing his coward fteps 

Amid the clafh of war. 
What guilty wretch (hall dare 

To fnatch thy prey ? 
No more the foldier's fhout 

Shall fire his foul, 
And vainly mid the ranks 
His flacken'd arm fhall rear 

The trembling blade. 
What guilty wretch fhall dare 

To fnatch thy prey ? 
Soon fhall his wafted frame 

Be toft by blafts, 



Nor 



126 

Nor join the hero-race 
Who roufe the air~form*d deer. 
And bend the mifty bow, 
And guide their fleeds of cloud 
High o'er the pine-capt heath 
He'll wing his lonely way, 
Arid kindred ghofis fhall fhun 
PI is hated haunts. 



The End of the Firjl AB. 



Nor join the hero-race.'] That the departed enjoyed in 
their world of air the fports they purfued on earth, that 
their dwellings, arms, and animals were formed of clouds, 
is a doclrine which is chiefly fupported by the works of 
Offian : it difagrees however with the Druidical opinions 
of a future flate as delivered by Csefar. He fays that they 
taught " non interire animos, fed ab aliis pod mortem 
tranfire in alios.' 3 



ACT II. 



127 

Ztt II. 

SCENE.— A part of the Wood near to the 
Cajlle of Star no. 

DAURA. 
Ye once-lov'd halls ! where oft I've heedlefs 

ftray'd 
Cheer'd by a mother's (mile; where oft my heart 
Has leapt at founds of joy, which echoed loud 
Amid your vaulted domes — Ye once-lov'd halls ! 
Where from my father's limbs I oft have pluck'd 
The dinted mail of fight, and filent thank' d 
The god who fav'd him in the hour of peril — 
Ye fcenes of pafl delight — ah ! how I hate you ! 
Bought with the price of blood, the blood of 

him 
I hold moll dear — now, now, methinks, I fee 
The fatal knife uprear'd — this hand mall — no, 

\Stamo and Kelric enter* 
He lives, he lives, my father yet has fpar'd 
His daughter's life — If thou haft ever joy'd 

To 



128 



To fee me climbing round thy weary limbs, 
If thou haft ever wept for Daura loft, 
Save him who fav'd thy child, his life is twin'd 
With mine, and one blow ftabs us both. — O 

hear me — 
By all thy fondnefs for my infant prattle, 
By all the love my riper years have Ihewn thee, 
By my dead mother's fhade— 



STARNO. 

He fhall not die. 






DAURA. 

Eternal joy await thee. — Come, my father, 
Come, let me prefs thee to my fluttering breafl — - 
Kelric is mine. 

STARNO. 

Yes, Daura, let the priefts 
With other victims glut their thirft of gore : 
A milk-white bull fhall ftain the gloomy altar, 
An offering for the captive. 

DAURA. 



129 

DAURA. 

This torn heart 
O'erpower'd finks beneath me — 

[She goes out. 

STARNO, KELRIC, CHORUS. 

CHORUS. 
Chieftain, already is the clouded fun 
Verg'd to the fea, and e'er the dews of night 
Fall on us, Hefus aflcs the promised viclitxu 

STARNO. 

He fhall not bleed. 

CHORUS. 

Not bleed ? — Beware, O chief, 
Beware the wrath of gods — the fure revenge 
Of Hefus threatens thee. — Look round — thy 

people 
In thoufands fell before the Saxons' fpear, 
And fcarcely half thy nation lives to hail thee. 

S What? 



130 



What ? — when the favouring god himfelf ftept 

forth 
And rear'd the fword of conqueft, wilt thou 

fpare 
The captive's life, nor heed the dreadful vow 
Which calls down endlefs horrors on thy head, 
If unaccomplifrYd ? 

STARNO. 

Let thefe horrors fall ; 
I fave my child, I fave her brave deliverer; 
Fir'd with fuccefs, the courage of my tribes 
No more fhall flag — their fwords fhall— 

CHORUS. 

Daring man ! 
The nervous arm is frail when cow'd by guilt : 
The proudeft lirength is tame, when heav'n 

frowns on it. 
This is not all — if thy inhuman heart 
Thus mocks a people's woes, their pious zeal 

May 



131 



May doom e'en thee their chieftain to de- 

ftruction : 
Or to the flighted altar drag relentlefs 
E'en Daura's felf. 

STARNO. 

And when ye lift the knife 
She falls with Kelric. Hence, ye flaughtering 

priefts, 
My foul is firmly fix'd. 

CHORUS. 

Yet hear again : 

And if thou fear'fl not heav'n, yet dread our 

power ; 7 

4 
Soon (liall our lips pronounce the juft decree 

Thy crime deferves.— Ne'er by the altar more 

Thy foot accurs'd fhall ftand ; no more thy clan 

Shall know their chief; no more thy martial 

bands 

Thejujl decree.'] See Note on Druids, 

S 2 Shall 



132 



Shall clofe around thee; thro' thy empty halls 
The wind (hall howl, no feftive fong fhall cheer 
A wretched outcafl; not thy daughter's felf 
Shall call thee father — 

KELRIC. 

Lead rne to your groves 
A willing vi£lim — Starno's manly foul 
Shall view me fcoffing at the pangs of death. 

STARNO. 

Yet (lop, and let my future days be mark'd 
With ceafelefs grief-— or let the angry priefts 
Force me to death, Hill, Hill my child is fafe 
And Kelric lives her hufband. 

KELRIC. 

Kelric live ? 
A Saxon fhrinks from life fo bafely gain'd ; 
The warring bands would fcorn to fight befide me, 
The bard would fear to name me in his fong, 
And when I gaz'd upon thy beauteous daughter, 
Dear as (he is, her father's image then 

Would 



133 



Would blafl my joys. Lead on, ye holy men, 
I hear no more — 

[Kelric, Siarno, and part of 
the Chorus go out,~\ 

CHORUS. 

God of the mining day, 

Whofe brow the blazing fillet binds 

Which flames athwart the Iky, 

And fcatters liquid light, 
Belinus, in yon beamy tracl:, 

Belinus.~J Beal, or Bealen, and with the Latin termi- 
nation, Belinus*, was the God of the Sun, the Apollo 
of the Celtst ; hence May-day was called the Bealtine, 
(or day of Belen's fire) by the native Irifh, the Scotch 
Iflanders, and the inhabitants of the I fie of Man; this 
God corresponds in every refpecr. with the Bel of the 
Phoenicians, the name of which deity fignifies in the 
Phoenician language, the Sun^. 

* Gruter. and Reines. Infcript. 
+ filKlV cT« KclhOVCl, TOVTOV cPs (TiCovtri 'Wspoi^jf, AttqKKcovcl 

Herodian, Lib. VIII. 
X Bochart de Phcenic. Coloniis, Lib. I. xlii. — Selden de Dis 
Syriis Syntag. II. cap. i. — Belus is interpreted QVf<MQ$ by 
Hefychius. 

Did 



134 

Did e'er thy piercing eye behold 

A fcene of blacker woe ? 

Yet let not mortal voice accufe 

The will of gods ; 
Nor afk the fwelling ftorm-peals why they 
found, 

Or vainly bid the heavens 

Inwrap their fatal fire. 

Aloft in murky air 
Teutates rides, 

Teutates.'] Teutates was a Celtic deity in fome refpefts 
refembling the Greek Hermes* ; from his name and em- 
ployments he appears to have been the God Tauton of 
the Phoenicianst, or the Toth p{ EgyptJ. As the Celts 
conceived it proper to appeafe Teutates by human facri- 
fices§, they certainly attributed to him a malicious 
fpirit, of which however we find no traces in the charac- 
ter afcribed either to Tauton or to Toth. 

* Csefar de Bell. Gallic. Lib. VI. 7, and notes, (in Graevius' 
Edition) — Schedius de Dis German, p. 107, (Elz.) 

f This god is mentioned in the remains of Sanchoniathon. 

X Iablonfki. Pantheon Egypt, p. 156, 

§ Lucan Pharfal. Lib. I. 

And 



135 

And aims his pointed fhaft : 

They who fearlefs ftemm'd 
The rapid tide of war, 
Before him bow their crefted helm, 
And drop the gory fpear. 
They whofe haughty fouls 
Exult with finful joy, 
Before him bow their lofty head, 
And keener feel his dart— 
Refiftlefs power, 
Avert thy rage 
From Britain's (hore ; 
Sink in thy fable clouds 
And wing the fearful ftorm 
To other climes* 



The End of the Second AB. 



ACT III, 



136 

ZttlU. 

SCENE— The Wood and the Altar. 

CHORUS, STARNO, KELRIC. 

STARNO. 
Ye venerable men, with grief I lead 
The deftin'd offering to the unhewn altar. 
Is all prepar'd ? 

CHORUS. 

It is, the white rob'd priefts 
Have borne in fnowy veils the mifleltoe 

Cut 

Unhewn altar.'] The trilothons and other ancient 
Celtic altars, were formed of rough Jlones.< — See Bor- 
lafe's Cornwall, p. 200 — King's Munimenta Antiq. 
Vol. I. p. 176 — and his Remarks on Cromlechs, p. 216, 
220 and 230, fame Vol. 

MijfeltoeJ~\ The mifieltoe was held in the greateft ve- 
neration by the Druids* ; Pliny (Hiftor. Nat. Lib. XVI. 
c. 44.) gives the following account of their mode of 

* Alexander ab Alex. Gen. Dier. Lib. V. cap. iii. 

cutting 



137 



Cut with their golden fickles, from the wood 
With folemn rites they've pluck' d the creeping 

vervain, 
And with bent knee on Hefus' altar laid it ; 
Around the pile is clos'd the myftic ring 
Of virgins, piiefls, and vigorous warriors. 

cutting it ; 6C omnia fanantem appellantes, fuo vocabulo, 
facrificiis epuliique rite fub arbore prasparatis, duos admo- 
vent candidi colons tauros, quorum cornua tunc primum 
vinciantur. Sacerdos Candida vefle cultus arborem icandit. 
Falce aurea demetit, candido id excipitur fago. Turn 
deinde viclimas immolant. 

Drayton in his Polyolbion, (Song 9) has a pleafmg de- 
fcription of the fame ceremony. 

Vervain.'] This was another facred plant of the Celts 1 
two kinds of it are very accurately defcribed by Pliny, 
(Hift. Nat. Lib. XXV. 9.) and the Celtic mode of ga- 
thering it, as we learn from the fame author, was as fol- 
lows : " colligi circa Canis ortum deberi, ita ut ne Luna 
. aut Sol confpiciat ; favis ante et melle terra ad piamen- 
turn datis ; circumfcriptam ferro effodi finiftra manu, et 
in fublime tolli. 

The vervain (verbenaca, verbena) was alfo much ufed 
by the Romans in their religious ceremonies*. 

* Plinii Hift. Nat. as above.— Terent Andr. Act. iv. f. 5. 
Virgil. Bucolic. 8. 6$, 

T CHORUS, 



138 



CHORUS, STARNO, KELRIC, DAURA, 

DAURA. 

Before the lifted knife has reach'd his heart, 
I come to take a laft farewell of Kelric — 
Turn not, unhappy youth, the eyes of love 
On Daura's form ;— frown, frown — thine angry 

glance 
Shall fwift deftroy me — ah I — it will not be- 
Why does my wretched, fpirit linger yet ? — 
Hafle to the floating clouds, and wing thy way 
To meet the ghoft of Kelric, 

KELRIC. 

Daura, Daura — • 
My firm nerves fhake again, thy much lov'd voice 
Again unmans me, that all-beauteous fhape 
Adds double horror to the deadly blow — 
Why doft thou come to melt my ftruggling bread 
And fink my fickly foul ? — farewell, my love, 
Remember Kelric, let his mournful image 

Cleave 



139 



Cleave to thy heart, and when the fliades of 

death 
Shall dim thofe tearful eyes, then hafte with joy 
To meet his fond embrace in Odin's halL 

DAURA. 

Hark — 'tis a horrrid voice which fhrieks— it cries 
Who murder'd K el He ?— Daura, wretched Daura 
Has piere'd her lover's heart — enough — I go — 

Farewell—- farewell we. foon fhall meet, my 

love — 
Again it cries — Daura has murder'd Kelric— 
Hence, hated found — 
See, fee a ghaflly vifion rifes on me. 
He bleeds, he bleeds — I mark his waving hand*— 

[Goes out. 

KELRIC. 
Delay no more, ye priefls. 



T2 CHORUS, 



140 



CHORUS. 

Loudly ftrike the golden harp, 
While Echo from a thoufand rocks 
Repeats the folemn {trains — 
Hafte, hafte, thou dreadful god 
And hover on the blaft 
Which bows the ruftling wood 
Around thy fhrine— 
Hafte and quit the field of fpears, 
In blood-ftain'd arms attend 
Our folemn rites. 

When on the mountain's fide 
The prowling wolf difcerns 
The bleating flock, 
Swift, fwift he fp rings to carnage, 
And bathes his fhaggy fides 
In gufhing blood. 

When in his airy courfe 
The famifh'd vulture hears 



The 



141 

The dying groan, 

The dying groan revives 

His weaken'd frame, 

He (lops his rapid flight 

And feafts his hungry eyes 

With human gore ; 

Thus does the warlike god delight 

To view the purple flood, 

And grateful to his ears 

The fhrieks of Daughter rife ; 

Then let us lift the fatal knife 

And in the victim's blood 

Its mining point imbrue. 

WARRIORS. 

Raife the purple banners high 
Rear aloft the boffy fhield 
And make the mining fpear; 
Hefus fpies the gleam of arms 
And hafles to join the fight; 
Now he fires the warrior's foul 
And fpeeds the forked dart; 



Now 



lite 

Now by the hero's fide 

He mounts the creaking car. 

And palen'd hofts retreat. 

Long may his defolating arm 

Defend the Britifh bands ; 

Long may the Saxon fear his rage 

And view with ghaftlv look 

The lightning of his eye ; 

Then lift, ye prieds, the fatal knife, 

And in the victim's blood 

Its mining point imbrue. 

VIRGINS. 

Awake the tuneful voice, 
And call with foothing founds 
The god of war. 

See in the glittering ranks 
A father (lands, 
He lifts his draining arm 
To fave his child — 
Rife, Hefus, rife, 



And 



143 

And caft thy full-orb'd fhield 
Around his aged limbs — 
Turn from his fide the deadly dar£ 
And fend him back with victory. 

See in the glittering ranks 

A hufband Hands, 

His fair wife moans 

Her abfent lord. 

Now to her arms fhe takes 

Her blooming boy, 

And prints the tender kifs. 

Now fondly gazes on his limbs, 1 

And in his infant features fees 

His father's face— 

The'diftant fhout is heard— fhe fearful turns— * 

Her cheek is pale, } 

And clofer to her heart fhe hugs 

The lovely child. 

Rife, Hefus, rife, 

And call thy full-orb'd fhield 

Around her warrior's breaft. 

Turn 



144 

Turn from his fide the deadly dart 
And fend him back with victory. 

See in the glittering ranks 

A lover {lands ; 

The mournful maid he loves 

With fullen ilep retires 

To thickeft fbades, 

There with her abfent warrior's form 

She feafts her gloomy foul — 

Now fhe fees his manly frame 

Stretch'd upon the purple plain, 

She fhrieks aloud and flarting flies 

The horrid image fancy-rais'd — - 

Now in the palling gale 

She hears his conquering tread, 

And haftes to twine the oaken wreath 

To deck her lover's brow — 

Joy fparkles in her eyes, 

But yet one lingering tear defcends 

And dews the finning leaves — 

Rife, Hefus, rife, 



And 



145 

And caft thy full-orb'd fhield 
Around her warrior's breaft, 
Turn from his fide the deadly dart 
And fend him back with victory. 
And you, ye holy priefts, 
Uplift the fatal knife, 
And in the victim's blood 
Its mining point imbrue. 

STARNO. 

Hail, Hefus, hail, 

To thee we pour 

The confecrated blood — 

MESSENGER. 
Stop, flop your folemn rites, I come to tell 
A melancholy tale — with faltering flep 
Fair Daura left thefe {hades, fhe reach'd at length 
The caftle-walls, and weeping fought her chamber : 
Sudden her fervants heard the groans of death 
Which iffued from the room — they rufh'd to 
fave her— 

U In 



1*6 



In vain they rufh'd — her hands were ftain'd 

with blood, 
And on her couch fhe lay a breathlefs corfe. 

[Starno retires. 

KELRIC. 
Strike, ftrike, ye lingering priefts— Ihe bled for 

me — 
My bread is bare — 

[The priejl at the altar Jlabs him. 
Daura, we hafle to mix with happy gods — 
We hafle to wander in Valhalla's groves 
Where endlefs rapture gilds the winged hours — 
Odin, receive my fainting foul, and ope 
The doors of heaven- 
ly/) 2>5^ 

CHORUS, 
Retire thou golden fun, 
And fhroud thy ruddy orb 
In fwarthy night, 
Ye dreary fhades refound 

With 



147 



With horrid wailings, 

Let the death-owl's cry 

Float thro' the facred wood j 

For Daura falls, 

And Kelric's gulhing blood 

Stains the green earth. — 

'Tis not in mortal mould confin'd 

That deathlefs fouls lhall fhare 

Unmingled blifs — 

Beneath the blufhing rofe 

The thorn is hid, 

Beneath the flowery bank 

The ferpent lurks unfeen, 

And oft the cup of joy 

Is dregg'd with bitter woe. 

The azure iky is calm, 

The gale foft whifpers in the bending trees,. 

The glaffy lake reflects 

The verdant fhrubs around— 

But foon the troubled air is gloom'd 

With pitchy clouds, 

U 2 Fell 



148 

Fell Taranis defcends ; 
The deep-ton'd thunder roars 
And fearing lightnings fly — 
The angry fpirit of the lake 
Dafhes his dark-blue waves 
And rides in foam. 



Taranis.'] Taranis was the Celtic Jupiter or god of 
the air*; his anger was averted by the fame inhuman facri- 
fices as thofe offered to Teutates+ ; the name of Taranis 
is undoubtedly derived from a Phoenician word which 
fignifies thunder ; I am unable however to find any Syrian 
god who precifely refembles him. 



* Schedius as above. — An altar at Lowther, in Cumberland, 
mentioned by Selden (de Dis Syriis) and infcribed " Trama?* 
(a word which the above mentioned writer profeffes himfelf unable 
to explain) feems evidently to have been dedicated to this god. 

f Et Tharamis Scythicas non mitior ara Dianse. 

Lucan Pharfal. 



The end of the Dramatic Sketches of Northern 

■ Mythology, 



MISCELLANEOUS 



JT3 



FOE 



»«e»<»$®$©®@-«^^-®@®<8«®£®99««= 



OF 



THE CYCLOPS 



OF 



EURIPIDES. 



I 



T is fcarcely neceffary to obferve, that the 
Cyclops of Euripides cannot be read without 
much intereft, whether it be merely conudered 
as a compleat example of the ancient Greek satyric 
drama, or whether it be contemplated as a fpe- 
cimen of the comic talents of a Poet peculiarly 
diftinguifhed in his tragic compofitions by tender- 
nefs and pathos. 

In translating the abovementioned piece, I 
have omitted fome paffages which would have 
been juflly difpleafing to an Englifli reader,- and 
I have occafionally ventured (particularly in the 
choral odes) to deviate fomewhat from the letter, 
with the hope of better preferving, by this free- 
dom, the spirit of the original. 



X 



PERSONS OF THE PLAY. 

SlLENUS. 

Ulysses. 
The Cylops. 
Chorus of Satyrs. 

SCENE, 
SICILY. Caves at the foot of Mount &tna. 



THE CYCLOPS. 



2lct i. 

SILENUS. 



o 



BACCHUS ! what innumerable toils 
I fuffer for thy fake — aye and have fuffer'd 
E'en from my earlieft days— I well remember 
When firft, by Juno madden'd, we forfook 
The mountain nymphs, thy nurfes — then again 
Clofe by thy fide I fought the earth-born giants, 
And thro* the fhield of fierce Enceladon 
Driving my fpear, I flew him — foftly — foftly — 
Did I not dream all this ? — by Jove, not I— 
'Tis faft— all faft— I fhew'd the fpoils to Bac- 
chus — 
Now my fates' harder flill — when Juno urg'd 

X 2 Thefe 



156 



Thefe Tyrrhene fcoundrels to attack my matter. 
And bear him off, I ftraitway fought a veffel, 
Took all my children with me, put to fea 
And fail'd in queft of Bacchus — while I ileer'd 
My boys here row'd~the green fea foam'd 

around us — 
Pairing by Malea a wind fprang up 
Which drove us to thefe rocks — the rocks of 

^Etna— 
Here dwell the one-ey'd children of the god 
Who rules the fea — a bloody, monftrous race— - 
Captur'd by Polypheme, for him we toil' — 
No more we fhout our god, but guard the herds 
Of this accurfed Cyclops — on yon hills 
My fons now watch his flock — while I am doom'd 
To fweep his cave, to keep all clean within, 
To wait upon him at his hateful meals — 
Come, I mull now to work, and fweep, and 

fcrape 
That all be neat — what's this ? — my fons ap- 
proach 
Driving their flocks—- hark — hark, — does this re- 
ferable The 






157 

The Bacchanalian fhouts, the choral fongs 
Mingled with mufick in Althaea's halls ? 

SEMI-CHORUS. 
Where, O flocks of noblefl race, 
Where, acrofs the barren rocks, 
Would you ftray ? 

There no cooling breezes play, 
There no tempting herbage fprings, 
There no curling eddies gufh — 
Come to the dewy field 
Come to your matter's fold — 

SEMI-CHORUS. 
Soon will your fwelling dugs receive 
The tender lambs, 

Rouzedfrom their {lumbers, hark, they bleat 
And call their dams. 
Come to your mailer's fold, 
Come to the fhady dell, — 



No 



158 

No fongs of Bromius here refound, 
No Thyrfus-bearing crouds advance—- 
Where are the revelling nymphs, 
And where the clattering drums 
Loud-echoing o'er the ftreams? 

CHORUS. 

I fhout the Bromian lay ; 
On Venus flill I call, 
Venus, whom oft I've fought 
With Bacchus' fportive train — 
O friendly god, O dearefl youth, 
Where is thy lonely feat ? 
Where doll thou, mourning, fhake 
Thy golden hair ? 
Far from thy cheering looks 
In coarfefl garb I pine 
The monfter's flave. — 

S1LENUS. 
Be filent, children ; hafle and drive your flocks 
Into the rocky caves. 

CHORUS, 



159 



CHORUS. 

We will, my father, 
But why fo urgent ? 

SILENUS. 

Clofe upon the more 
I fee a Grecian veffel, and its crew 
Led by their Captain, feem to bend their courfe 
This way — they 're furely feeking food and water, 
They bear fome empty veffels — wretched flran- 

gers 
Who can they be ? alas ! they cannot know 
The nature of our mailer — little think they 
That landing on thefe hated fhores, they come 
The felf-doom'd victims of the Cyclops' jaws— 
Now be ye quiet, children, whilft I afk 
What fate has thrown them on the fhores of Si* 

cily— • 

[Enter Ulyjfes and his Crew. 
ULYSSES- 



160 



ULYSSES. 

fay, my friends, where can we find a fpring 
To flake our third ? where can we purchafe food 
To ftore our velfel ? — this is very ftrange — 
Sure 'tis a Bromian city — all around— 
Within, without the caves, there's nought but 

Satyrs ; 

1 will addrefs the oldeft — Hail ! old man. 

SILENUS. 
Hail ! flranger, — quickly tell me who thou art 
And whence thou comefl — 

ULYSSES. 
Thou behold'ft Ulyifes. 

SILENUS. 
I've heard of him — he is the verieft prater — - 

ULYSSES, 
I'm he, I fay, — fpare your abufe, my friend, — 

SILENUS. 



161 

SILENUS. 
And pray whence came you lad ? 

ULYSSES. 

I came from Troy. 

SILENUS. 

Hadft thou not wit enough to find thy home ? 

ULYSSES. 
By adverfe winds I'm driven to this coaft. 

SILENUS. 
Alas ! thy fate and mine are much alike. 

ULYSSES. 
Where you then driven to this land by ftorms ? 

SILENUS. 
Yes, running after thieves who Hole my mafter. — 

ULYSSES. 



162 

ULYSSES. 
What place is this, and who inhabit it? 

SILENUS. 
This Ifle is Sicily — this mountain ^Etna. 

ULYSSES. 
Where are your cities? — where your lofty walls ? 

SILENUS. 
We have no cities, and no walls but rocks. 

ULYSSES. 
Who then dwell here, a race of favage beafts ? 

SILENUS. 
The Cyclops dwell here, caverns are their houfes. 

ULYSSES. 
Have they a ruler ? — what's their mode of life ? 

SILENUS. 



SILENUS. 
They're wandering Shepherds, no one heeds the 
other. 

ULYSSES. 
Do they not till the ground ?— -What food have 
they ? 

SILENUS. 
They've milk and cheefe ; — fometims they feafl 
on flefh. 

ULYSSES. 
Have they not here the liquor of the grape ? 

SILENUS. 
No — not a drop — O 'tis a curfed country. 

ULYSSES. 
And are the Cyclops very kind to guefts ? 

SILENUS. 

Y2 



]64 

SILENUS. 
O very kind — they prize no flefh fo highly. 

ULYSSES. 
What fay you ? — flefh of guefts ! — they cannot 
eat them ? 

SILENUS. 
Yes but they do, — they butcher all they catch, 

ULYSSES. 
Where is the Cyclops ? is he in his cave ? 

SILENUS. 
No, he is hunting, with his dogs, on ^Etna. 

ULYSSES. 
Be brifk then, my good friend, and dont detain us. 

SILENUS. 
What fhould I do ? I'm ready to befriend you. 

ULYSSES. 



165 



ULYSSES. 
Procure us food — 



SILENUS. 
There's nothing here but flefh- 



'£> 



ULYSSES. 
Well that will do — 

SILENUS. 
And cheefe, and milk of cows— 

ULYSSES. 
Bring it all forth, let's look before we buy. 

SILENUS. 
And how much gold then will you give me for it ? 

ULYSSES. 
None — none at all — I'll give a draught of wine. 

SILENUS. 



166 



SILENUS. 
Wine ? — fweetefl found ! — how long fince 1 have 
tailed— 

ULYSSES. 
Maron himfelf beftow'd the precious gift. 

SILENUS. ■ 
Maron ? — how oft I've nurs : d him in thefe arms, 

ULYSSES. 
The fon of Bacchus, as you well remember. 

SILENUS. 

Is the wine with you or on board your (hip? 

ULYSSES. 

This is the fkin which holds it — look, my friend — 



SILENUS. 
That ? — why there's fcarce enough to wet my 
gullet — 

ULYSSES. 






161 



ULYSSES. 
I have much more than this — 

SILENUS. 

O the dear fountain! 
So fweet, fo grateful — 

ULYSSES. 
Will you pleafe to tafte it ? 

SILENUS. 
Aye, by ail means,— I'll tafte before I buy — 

ULYSSES. 

See ! I have brought a cup too with the Ikin — 

SILENUS. 
Come fill it then — 

ULYSSES. 

Here — drink — 

SILENUS, 



168 



SILENUS. 
Ah — ah — it fmells well. 

ULYSSES. 
Then tafte it, praife it not by words alone — 

SILENUS. 
I do — mod excellent—it makes me merry ; 
I long to dance — ha — ha — 

ULYSSES. 
It goes down fweetly — 

SILENUS, 
O I can feel it at my ringers ends — 

ULYSSES. 
I'll give you money too — 

SILENUS. 

Plague on the money, 
Give me but wine enough I afk no more — 

ULYSSES. 






169 



ULYSSES. 
Now then, good Satyr, bring the cheefe, the 
lambs — 

S1LENUS. 
I'll do it— what care I for mailer now? 
For one full cup of that delicious liquor 
I'd barter all the food of all the Cyclops, 
And then leap headlong from the jutting rock 
Into the fea — I mean, if I were drunk 
I'd do all this — O, he who drinks unmov'd 
Is furely mad. ***** 

This cup's the cure of forrow — how I'd drain it ! — 
Plague on the Cyclops — Hark, my friend, a 
word with ye. 

ULYSSES. 
Speak to me freely as becomes a friend. 



SILENUS. 
Did you take Troy ? 



ULYSSES. 



i 



170 

ULYSSES. 



We did- 



SILENUS. 

And Helen too ? 

ULYSSES 
And Helen — and deflroy'd the houfe of Priam. 

SILENUS. 
And when you had her fafe did all your foldiers 
Kifs her ? fhe always lik'd to change her hufbands; 
Lur'd by a fplendid drefs and golden chains, 
The traitrefs left that worthy man her lord ; 
O would the race of women were extinct ! 
Except a few— juft for my private ufe — 
Here, great Ulyffes, here is flefh, and milk, 
And cheefe in plenty — take it and be gone, 
But leave that goodly fkin inflead of it — 

ULYSSES. 
See, fee — the Cyclops — 'tis all over with us — 
What ihall we do ? where fly ? 

SILENUS. 



171 



SILENUS. 

Enter this cave, 
And hide yourfelf. 

ULYSSES. 
What ? rufh into his nets ? 

SILENUS. 
Never mind that, he cannot find you there — 

ULYSSES. 
No, it fhall ne'er be faid that I who flood 
Oppos'd to thoufands of the Phrygian fpears 
Could fear to face one man — it (hall not be, — 
If we mufl perifh let us perifh bravely, 
Or if we live, our fame ihall flourifh with us — 

SILENUS. 
Pr'ythee don't loiter — 

End of Att Firft. 

Z 2 



172 



2Cet II. 

CYCLOPS, ULYSSES, SILENUS, AND 
CHORUS. 

CYCLOPS. 

What means this uproar ? this is not the hall 
Of the revelling god — here are no drums, no 

cymbals — 
Are my lambs fafe within ? do they fuck well, 
And frifk around the ewes ? where are the cheefes ? 
Have ye made plenty of them ? — out, ye oafs ! — 
Why dont ye fpeak ?— this ftaff will cure your 

dumbnefs, 
Look up — ye fland like dolts — 

SILENUS. 

'An pleafe you, mafter, 
I do look up — I fee the heavens, the flars, 
I think I fee Orion — 

CYCLOPS. 



173 

CYCLOPS. 

Where's my Tapper ? 

SILENUS. 
'Tis ready— -bleffings on your appetite ; 

CYCLOPS, 

Are all my goblets iill'd with frenVdrawn milk ? 

SILENUS. 
All full — O you may drink a fea of it — 

CYCLOPS. 

What milk ? fheeps ? — cows ?— 

SILENUS. 

O every kind of milk, 
Drink what you pleafe, but don't gulp me down 
with it, 

CYCLOPS. 



174 



CYCLOPS, 
No, no, you're fafe enough — my maw would 

fplit 
With fuch a capering fool in it as you are— 
Rafcal, what croud is that about my cave ?— ~ 
A gang of robbers ? — fee they Ileal my cheefe — 
They're loaded with my lambs — what ails you? 

— fpeak 
Your eyes are fwell'd — -your head— 

SILENUS. 

Alas ! good mafier^ 
I'm beaten to a jelly—woe is me ! 

CYCLOPS. 

Who beat you, Satyr? 

SILENUS. 
Thofe fame rogues and thieves there — 
I fought to the lafl — I could not fave your 
lambs — 

CYCLOPS. 



175 



CYCLOPS. 

Did not the fcoundrels know I was a god, 
Defcended from the gods too ? 

SILENUS. 

So I told them — - 
Bat flill they dole your goods and ate your 

cheefe— - 
As to yourfelf, they faid they'd tie you fad 
To a long (lake, and thro' that eye of yours 
They'd fpin your bowels— and befides all this 
They fwore they'd flog you — bind you neck and 

heels 
Together, clap you in the hold of the fhip, 
And fell you for a mafon's labourer — 

CYCLOPS. 

Indeed! be brifk then — fharpen well my knives— 
Light a huge fire — I'll cut the throats of the 

dogs — 
Pll eat'em hot and hot — fome I will (lew-— 

I'm 



116 



I'm tir'd of mountain food, of flags and lions — • 
'Tis years fmce I have tailed human flefh. 

SILENUS. 
It makes a pretty change — moil wond'rous plea- 

fant — 
And 'tis not often that we catch a ftranger — 

ULYSSES. 

Cyclops ! liflen to thy guefls awhile — 

We wandei'd from our mips to purchafe food ; 
We chanc'd to find thy caves ; the Satyr here 
Willingly fold us for a draught of wine 
Thefe lambs and cheefe — we feized on nought 

by force ; 
Now he denies all this — falfely denies it 
Merely becaufe thou caught' fl him at his tricks. 

SILENUS. 

1 ? — may* ft thou peiifti — 

ULYSSES. 



177 

ULYSSES. 

If I fpeak not truly — 

SILENUS. 
I fwear by Neptune, father of the Cyclops, 
I fwear by Triton, by Calypfo fair, 
By all the Nereides, by the facred feas, 
By every fifh that fwims — I fwear, O Cyclops ! 

my dear little matter, 9 yes t I fwear, 

1 never fold him aught — if my oath's falfe 
May thefe, my dearefl children fadly perifli! 

CHORUS. 
Stop — flop — in juflice to our guefls I fpeak—* 
The ftrangers bought the goods — if this be falfe 
May my dear father perifh — 

CYCLOPS, 

Peace — ye lie— 
I'd rather truft this man than Rhadamanthus — 
But I would afk you ftrangers whence you came — 
Where were you born ? 

A a ULYSSES. 



178 



ULYSSES. 
We're Ithacans by birth — 
From Troy we came, which now is lain in ames— 
Tempeftuous winds have driv'n us on thy 
mores. 

CYCLOPS. 

So— ye are the men who took a trip to Troy 
To feize that runaway, that traitrefs Helen. 

ULYSSES. 
We are and much we've fufTer'd in our battles — 

CYCLOPS. 

A precious fet !■— 'twas well worth while to fight 
Thofe bloody battles for one trumpery woman — 

ULYSSES. 
Such was the will of fate — then blame not us — 
But now, O fon of the illuftrious fea god, 
Humbly we afk thee (for we muft fpeak plainly) 

Not 



119 



Not to deftroy us — fpare, O fpare thy guefts, 
Nor glut thy ftomach with an impious feafl ; 
Reflecl;, O Cyclops, on the many honours 
Thy father fhares in Greece, think of his temples, 
His facred harbours, caves, and promontories, 
Coniider too the glory gain'd to Greece 
By punifhing the Trojans ; of this glory 
Thou haft thy {hare tho' dwelling thus retir'd 
Beneath the fire-diftilling mount — O hear us ! 
Let foft humanity yet touch thy heart! 
Scorn not th J entreaties of a fuppliant ftranger, 
Bring forth the gifts of friendihip— mighty gods ! 
To pierce with pointed fpits our quivering limbs ! 
Alas ! the plains of Troy have fwallowed up 
Far, far too many — Greece is defolate — 
The widows weep their hufbands — grey-hair'd 

parents 
Lament their fons — wilt thou confuine, O Cy- 
clops, 
The poor remains ? — where fhall we turn for pity ? 
Have mercy on us ! think not of a banquet 
So foul, fo impious — O refpecl the gods — 

A a 2 Refl 



180 

ReflecT; how often wicked deeds have prov'd 
The bane of thofe who wrought them — 

SILENUS. 

Hark ye, mafter, 
I'll give you my advice — by all means eat 
That profing fellow, and be fure to fwallow 
His tongue — what a dear pretty prattling Cyclops 
You'll then become — ■ 

CYCLOPS. 

Gain is the wife man's god, 
All elfe is empty fhew and idle boafting — 
Dofl think me fool enough to care what honours 
Greece pays my father ? — What's all that to me ? 
I tell thee, man, I do not even dread 
The thunderbolts of Jove — for aught I know 
I am as great a god as Jove himfelf — 
I care not for him — let his thunders roar, 
Let him dafh down his floods — I'm fafe enough — 
Snug in my cave I eat, and drink, and fnore — 
And when the Thracian Boreas fhoots his mows, 

I cloath 






181 



I cloath me warm in (kins- — I light a fire, 

And laugh at froft and (now— the earth beneath 

me, 
Whether fhe will or no, mull throw out herbage 
To feed my flocks, and thofe I offer only 
To one moil mighty god, this paunch of mine — 
To eat, to drink, to care for nought beiides, 
This is the wife man's plan — plague on the rogues 
Who gave you laws, who fixt your rules of life ; 
I know no laws but thefe, to pleafe myfelf, 
To fill my belly, and to eat you up — 

As to the prefents that you prate about 
They iha'nt be wanting — I will ihare among you 
Fire, and the cauldron of my fore fathers — 
a Tis big enough for all of you — go in— 

Go in I fay — and learn my mode of feailing — 

ULYSSES. 
Alas ! alas ! efcap'd from Trojan fpears, 
From fwelling furges, what a fate awaits us I 
The moniter's heart is harder than his rocks. 
O Pallas, goddefs fprung from Jove himfelf, 

Now 



182 



Now, now defend us ! dangers tenfold blacker 
Than thofe we fac'd at Troy fur round us here- 
O thou, who fitt'ft above the glittering ftars, 
Look down upon us, fave us, Jove, O fave us, 

SEMI-CKORUS. 
Open, O Polypheme, thy mighty jaws ; 
Behold prepar'd 
The roaft, the boil'd— 
I fee thy grinders tear 
The hateful food, frefh feeth'd 
Within the hairy fkin— 

SEMI-CHORUS. 
O could I quit, for ever quit 

Thefe gloomy caves, 

Thefe impious feafls. 

Ah, cruel, bloody wretch, 

Who hear' ft, but hear'ft unmov'd 

E'en at the facred hearth 

The fuppliant's prayer — 

End of AB Second. 



183 



act in: 

ULYSSES, CHORUS. 

ULYSSES. 
O mighty Jove ! within th' accurfed cave 
I've feen a fight which man can fcarcely credit, 
It is not human— 

CHORUS. 

Has the hated Cyclops 
Devour'd thy friends ? — 

ULYSSES. 



Two have already fuffer'd and the reft 
Trembling like birds, now fculk within his cave; 
1 dar'd to approach the monfter — waited on him p 
And when I found his hunger was appeas'd, 
A thought came crofs me — ftrait I fhTd a cup 

W itfe 



164? 



With potent wine and gave it him to drink ; 
Take this, I faid, this is the lufcious juice 
Which Greece produces, and which Bacchus 

doats on ; 
The Cyclops, gorg'd with flefh, received the cup 
Anddrain'dit at one draught — deargueft, cries he, 
Thou giv'fl me liquor worthy of my banquet ! 
While he ftill fmack'd his lips, I carried to him 
A fecond dofe, for well I new the wine 
Would do its duty — flrait he 'gan to firig — 
Cup after cup he drain'd — I plied him well- 
He's hot enough — and now, amidft my friends, 
He makes the cavern echo to his fhouts 
And uncouth fongs — I iilently dole off- 
Fain would I fave myfelf and you too Satyrs ; 
Say, will you quit the wretch and fport again 
I 'the courts of Bacchus and the Danaides ? 
Your father there within, approves my counfel, 
But he is weak and tottering, and he clings 
Clofe to the cup as if he fluck by bird-lime— 
Ye are both young and aftive — join me then— 
And feek your ancient matter Bromius — 

CHORUS, 



185 



CHORUS. 

Ah ! my good friend, would I might fee the day 
When I fhall fairly 'fcape the monfter's clutches 
Here is no rnufick— all is dead and joylefs — 
But we have no refource — 

ULYSSES. 

You have, my friend, 
Hear but my plan — feverely will I punifh 
This hated beaft, and give you liberty. 

CHORUS. 
Say, how ? with keener joy Pd hear his groans 
Than the foft tinklings of the harp of Afias. 

ULYSSES. 
The Cyclops, hot with wine, will long to join 
His brethren at their feafts— 

CHORUS* 

Bb 



186 



CHORUS. 

I underftand thee, 
And we mud watch his fteps — catch him alone, 
And ftrangle him, or hurl him from the rocks — 

ULYSSES. 
I mean not that— our work is not fo plain — 

CHORUS. 

How then ? long, long ago we've heard, Ulyffes, 
The rumour of thy cunning. 

ULYSSES. 

Thus then, Satyrs, 
I will perfuade him not to quit his home ; 
I'll tell him he'd be mad to (hare his wine 
With any other Cyclops — here I'll fix him — 
And when the potent god has laid him low, 
I'll fharpen fome huge flake and fire its point, 
And as the fhip-wright bores with whirling auger, 

So 



187 






So will we bore, with the ftill-flaming fhaft, 
The eye of Polypheme— 

CHORUS. 

'Tis well — 'tis well. 

ULYSSES 
When we've thus blinded him, thy felf, thy 

father, 
And all our friends fhalt hade aboard ray fhip, 
And row away rnoft merrily — - 

CHORUS. 

O glorious! 
But fay, Ulyfles, fhalt thou need our aid 
To twirl the flake ? 

ULYSSES. 
Yes truly — -'twill be weighty — 

CHORUS. 

B b2 



188 



, CHORUS. 
O ! I would work like fifty carts and horfes, 
Could I but blind the dog, and root out 

thoroughly 
That wafp's neft eye of his— 

ULYSSES. 

Be filent now — 
When I command, be ready — thoM've quitted 
My friends within, and might efcape alone, 
Yet I mould corn to do it ; we will live 
Or die together — 

SEMI-CHORUS. 
Who firft, who lafl mail feize 

The burning brand, 
And plunge its fiery point, 

Within the radiant orb ? — 

SEMI-CHORUS. 
Hark, hark, I hear within 
The found of fong, The 



189 

The fwelling notes are harm. 

The minftrel rude — 
Lo ! from the rocky cave 

Th 5 unwieldy Cyclops reels ; 
O hafte and join his (trains— - 

SEMX-CHORUS. 

Happy, happy, happy he 

Who quaffs the lufcious juice, 
Happy in the purple flood 
Which fparkling flows around ! 

How fweefc on downy turf reclin'd 
To laugh the fummer hours away, 
With her we love ! 

How fweet, by Bacchus fir'd, to trace 
The winning graces of her form, 
To mark the down-caft beamy eye 
And catch the fragrance of her breath ! 



End of AB Third. 



J90 

CYCLOPS, ULYSSES, SILENUS, CHORUS, 

CYCLOPS. 

Whither, whither fhall I wander, 

Joyous from my rich repaft ? 

As a deeply laden veffel 

Well I'm flored with food and wine — ■ 

The glowing verdure of the field, 

The cooling breezes of the fpring, 

Entice me to forfake 

The gloomy, dill retreat, 

To join the Cyclops feafts — - 



CHORUS. 

See he comes, his mining orb, 
Like a flaming pine-tree burns, 
Rofeate tints have fluftVd his fkin 
Brighter than the hue of nymphs 
Sporting in their dewy caves ; 



Hafte 






191 

Halle and fhade his manly brow 
With wreaths of flowers— 

ULYSSES. 
Hear me, O Cyclops, and I'll tell thee all 
Th* adventures of the god thou lov'ft fo well. 

CYCLOPS. 

And doll thou call this liquor then a god ? 

ULYSSES. 

No doubt — the fweeteft comforter of mortals, 

CYCLOPS. 

Truly he warms my flomach pleafantly — - 

ULYSSES. 
O ! he's the bell of gods, he never harms us- 

CYCLOPS. 

And is he pleas'd with dwelling in a fkin ? 



ULYSSES, 



192 



ULYSSES. 
Aye, put him where you will, he's always eafy. 

CYCLOPS. 

Surely he might have had fame better cloathing? 

ULYSSES. 
Who heeds his covering if the god be good ? 

CYCLOPS. 

True 'tis no matter. 

ULYSSES. 

Do not leave us, Cyclops — 
Stay where you are, and drink and drink again. 

CYCLOPS. 

Shall I not give forne liquor to my brethren? 

ULYSSES. 
No — you'll be mightier if you keep it all. 

CYCLOPS. 






193 



CYCLOPS, 

I (hall be civiler if I let them tafle it. 

ULYSSES. 
Such drinking-bouts too often end in blood. 

CYCLOPS. 
O ! were 1 doubly drunk no one dares touch me, 

ULYSSES. 
Still I advife you not to quit your cave. 

CYCLOPS. 

Poh! he's a fool who loves to drink alone. 

ULYSSES. 
A wife man, if he's drunk, will flay at home—- 

CYCLOPS. 

What mall I do, Silenus ? 

C c SILENUS. 



194 



SILENUS. 

Never budge, 
I fee no wit in feeking other mouths. 

CYCLOPS. 

Well, here the grafs looks freih — 

SILENUS. 

'Tis mighty pleafant 
To booze i' the funlhine — pleafe to fit, good 
'm after — 

CYCLOPS. 

Why do you place the cup behind me, rafcal ? 

SILENUS. 
Left any one fhould touch it. 

CYCLOPS. 

Out— I fay — 
You drink my liquor, rogue, behind my back ; 

Here, 






195 



Here, place the cup in fight— approach me, gueft, 
Tell me thy name — thy name — 

ULYSSES. 

My name is, No-one. 
But fay, O Cyclops, what return you'll make me 
For all the kind attentions I have (hewn you. 

CYCLOPS. 
I'll eat thee laft of all— 

ULYSSES. 

That's very handfome. 

CYCLOPS. 

What are you doing, fcoundrel, are you drink- 
ing ? 

SILENUS. 
No — not a drop — only my eyes are dim, 
And I look'd clofe to fee the curious carving 
On this moil goodly cup. 

C c 2 CYCLOPS. 



196 



CYCLOPS. 

Take care, take care — 
Here — pour me out a cup-full — fill to the brim. 

SILENUS. 
And how much water fhall I mix with it ? 

CYCLOPS. 

None — none — come, bring it — 

SILENUS. 
Stop, I'll fetch a wreath 
And place it on thy head — befides 'tis proper 
That I, as cup-bearer mould tafte the liquor — 

CYCLOPS. 

Plague on this trifling. 

SILENUS. 

Trifling? not at all, 
The liquor's much too good to trifle with — 
Come blow yournofe — and then I give the cup — 

CYCLOPS. 



197 



CYCLOPS. 
There, there, you fool, my lips and beard are 
clean— 

SILENUS. 
Now you fhould drink it in a proper pofture 
Reclining gracefully— here- — fee me do it— 
Thus— thus — 

(drinks. J 

CYCLOPS. 

Hold, hold, you rafcal — 

SILENUS. 

Deareft heart ! 
I've drunk it out before I was aware oft. 

CYCLOPS. 

Out, oaf — come, gueft, be thou my cup-bearer. 

ULYSSES. 






198 



ULYSSES. 
With all my heart — I'm us'd to fuch employ- 
ment — 



CYCLOPS. 



Now fill the goblet. 



ULYSSES. 

Yes, I do — be quiet— 

CYCLOPS. 

'Tis not fo eafy to be drunk and quiet — 

ULYSSES. 
Here, take the goblet, drain it at a draught — ■ 
Would he might fwallow it ! — 

CYCLOPS. 

'Tis well — 'tis well 
O ! what a charming wood the vine-tree's made of! 

ULYSSES. 



199 



ULYSSES, 
After your meal you cannot drink too much — 
Drench yourfelf well — then fink to fweetefi 

ilumber, 
Leave not a drop — 

CYCLOPS. 

How's this ? my brains are fwimming, 
The fky and earth whirl round me — now I fpy 
The throne of Jove — I fee the gods affembled — 
What tho' the Graces court me — I'll not kifs'em. 
Hence, hence, and let me Deep. 

SILENUS. 

Aye, go thy ways. 

(Ulyjfes conducts the Cyclops into his cave and 
returns.) 

ULYSSES. 
Now, ye brave fons of Bacchus, all is ready, 

The 



200 



The mender fleeps — the pointed flake is flaming, 
Now let's to work — be men, my friends, be 

men— 

CHORUS. 

O ! we have hearts of adamant — return — 
We'll quickly follow— 

ULYSSES. 

Vulcan, lord of ^Etna, 
Now do thy duty— fleep thou fon of night, 
Refl heavy on the wretch — What ? fhall a band 
So bold, fo fam'd as our's inglorious perifh; 
And fall the viclims of an impious Cyclops ? 



CHORUS. 
See they feize the monfler's neck ; 
See they point the fiery dart, 
And plunge it deep — 
Bacchus, Bacchus, fight for us, 
Soon again my longing eyes 
Shall view thy beauteous front 
With ivy-crown'd — 

End of AH Fourth. 



201 



act v. 

ULYSSES, CHORUS, CYCLOPS. 

(The latter in his cave,) 

ULYSSES. 
Peace, peace, — by all the gods, I pray you, 

filence, 
Breathe not a word, nor cough, nor wink your eye, 
Left ye may rouze the Cyclops from his flum- 

bers— - 

CHORUS. 
There—there — we'll hold our breath— 

ULYSSES 

Come in, I fay, 
And help to do the deed — 

CHORUS, 

Dd 



202 



CHORUS. 

We cannot flir— 

ULYSSES. 
Are ye all lame ? 

CHORUS. 

I rather think we are, 
Our legs fhake under us — 

ULYSSES. 

Ye feem convuls'd. 

CHORUS. 
.'Tis very ftrange — I'm fure we cannot help thee, 
But we can ling an Orphic ode — 

ULYSSES. 

O cowards ! 
Well — be it fo — I and my brave companions 
Will do without you — fing fome cheering ditty. 

CHORUS. 



203 



CHORUS. 
How bafe is fear — the truly brave, 
Snatch the deathlefs wreath of fame, 
Shouting crouds their fleps attend. 
Warriors, raife the finewy arm, 
Deeper, deeper, plunge your fires ; 
Warriors, work the deed of wrath, 
Laugh to fcorn the monfter's groans, 
And flain with impious blood 
The many fhaft— 

CYCLOPS.— (From within.) 
Alas ! alas ! I'm blinded, fcorch'd and pierc'd. 

CHORUS. 
O ! ling that flrain again ! 

CYCLOPS. 

Dd2 



204 



CYCLOPS. 

Alas ! alas I 
I perifh, I am blinded — do not think 
The dogs will 'fcape me yet — here by this en- 
trance 
1*11 Hand and clofe it with my arms. Alas ! 

CHORUS. 

Cyclops, what means this clamour? haft thou 

reel'd 
Into the fire ? 

CYCLOPS. 

No-one, I fay, has pierc'd me — 

CHORUS, 

Then No-one is to blame. 

CYCLOPS. 

No-one has blinded me — 



CHORUS. 






205 



CHORUS. 

Then thou canft fee— 

CYCLOPS. 

Would thou couldfl fee no better ! 

CHORUS. 

And how did No-one blind thee ? 

CYCLOPS. 

Out, thou fcofFer ! 
Where is that No-one ? 

CHORUS. 
He is no where, Cyclops. 

CYCLOPS. 

That curfed gueft, I tell thee, has deftroyed me, 
He gave me drink that burnt my flefh — where 
is he ? 

Where 



206 



Where are my other guefts ? have they efcaped ? 
Or are they in my cave ? 

CHORUS. 

They're in thy cave, 

CYCLOPS. 

Where — where ? 

CHORUS. 
They're clofe beneath the rock — thou haft them — 

CYCLOPS. 

Alas ! I've fplit my fkull againft this ridge here. 

CHORUS. 

And now thou'lt lofe them — 

CYCLOPS. 

Tell me where they are — 

CHORUS. 



207 



CHORUS. 
There — there — 

CYCLOPS, 

I cannot catch them — 

CHORUS. 

There again, 
More to the left. 

CYCLOPS. 

Alas ! alas ! thou mock' ft me — 

CHORUS. 

Now I'll fpeak truly, Cyclops, they're before 
thee — 

ULYSSES. 
Yes, monfter, far enough from thee, and know 
Ulyffes leads them hence— 

CYCLOPS- 



208 



CYCLOPS. 

What? haft thou chang'd 
Thy name then, and procured a new one ? 

ULYSSES. 
No — I keep that my father gave to me— 
I tell thee that I glory in thy fufferings, 
I ihould have blufh'd when Troy was fpoken of 
Had I not punifh'd thy detefted crime— 
And now 1 quit thee — foon my fhip (hall bear me 
To my much long'd for country — 

CYCLOPS. 

Never, never, 
I'll follow to the fea— tear up a rock, 
And hurl it on your veifel — 

CHORUS. 

We (hall join 
Ulyffes' crew and feek our jolly god — 

* CHORUS. 



209 



•CHORUS. 
Bear me, O ! Bacchus, to thy funny hills 
Where twifted tendrils bend 
Beneath the cluttering grape ! 
With ready hand I'll prefs 

The purple fpoils, 
And drain the fragrant dream.—- 

Hail, Bromius, ivy-crowned king, 
Leader of the revelling bands, 
Thyrfus-bearing Bromius, hail! 
What is man without thy gifts ? 
Dull and formal, ftern and cold— 
Thy liquid treafures warm the heart 
Thy piercing juices fire the brain, 
And all around is love and joy — - 

Laughing 



* I have taken the liberty of adding this final chorus 
to the piece, in order to break the abruptnefs of the con- 
dunon; 



E e 



210 

Laughing Venus quaffs thy cup, 
Quicker pants her heaving bread, 
Redder rofes tinge her cheeks, 
Lighter graces fwim around her. 

Hail ! Bacchus, hail ! O bear me fwiffc 
Where clanging cymbals echo fhrill 
Mixt with the Bacchanalian fhout ! — 
See the fportive nymphs advance ! 
Their light robes floating in the breeze % 
Scattering a thoufand fweeteft fcents, 
They jocund wave their mining locks 
And twine the wanton dance, — 



End of AB Fifth* 



PANDORA, 



M O JV Q D R A M A 



Jam figna ruendi 
His dedlt confufaque rurfus 



Natura timet. 



CLAUDIAN. 



?®©^!<^Ef2S>|@@®»«=- 



PANDORA. 



«WV<W-<S-'W'*/%.>< 



Pandora pajfing from Heaven to Earth. 



H 



OW my heart throbs with joy — a hand 

divine 
Has form'd thefe finifh'd limbs, celeftial fire 
Darts thro' my veins, the choiceft gifts of gods 
Are pour'd upon me — can I e'er forget 
Their fplendid council in the flame-tipt clouds, 
When firfl from Vulcan's touch I fprang to life, 
And dazzled fhrunk before their blaze of glory ? 
Aloft on golden throne great Jove was feated. 
O'er his broad front the cluttering trefles fell 

Ana 



214 



And mildly beam'd his eyes — -arife, ye gods, 

Hi^ awful voice exclaim' d, arife and fhed 

Your richeff. bleffings on Pandora's form ; 

He fpake, majeflic from his fide arofe 

The queen of heaven, around thy fteps, fhe 

cried, 
Shall float a (lately grace— with rofes crown'd 
The laughter-loving Venus next advanc'd 
Light as the fummer breeze, and fmiling faid 
O'er thy fair cheeks I cad a crimfon tint, 
Thy melting eyes (hall fwim in foftefi luflre, 
Thy fwelling breads be moulded to the form 
Of Hebe's cup, be white as drifted fnow — - 
And while me fpake, a thoufand odours rofe, 
A thoufand fpoitive loves brifk fluttering round 
Fann'd the warm air — The god with golden locks 
Then came — be eloquent as fair, he cried, 
For what avails the radiance of thine eyes 
The blofibms of thy cheeks, if honied words 
Dwell not upon thofe lips, thy fpeech mall fall 
Soft as the dews of eve ; then circling gods 
Preft on me to bellow their varied honours ; 

Enough, 



%15 



Enough, cried Jove, (he's p erf eel: — take this 

cafket 
Fafl bound in glittering ribs, and bear it hence 
To where Prometheus 'bides beware, O 

nymph, 
To ope its filver clafps — 1 bow'd obedient — 
This cafket ! — is Prometheus then fo lov'd ? 
Daring Prometheus? — from the fiery cope 
He flole forbidden flames — the vulture tore 
His bleeding heart-— and do the gods reward 

him ? 
To hira they doom Pandora, doom to him 
The rare device this adamant enfolds — 
Why is it thus ?— what enviable gift 
Is here contain'd ? — not look at it ! — O Jove, 
Where was the goddefs of the tinted arch 
Thy wonted raefTenger ? — why, to my hands 
Confign the prize ? — perchance the god was 

fportive 
And wifh'd to try me — 'tis an empty cafket — 
Or if 'tis not, its fecret flore perhaps 

Would 



216 

Would prove to me a bane — I'll think no more 

on't— 
How broad the way, 'tis trac'd with milky beams-*— 
Lo ! there's the earth, it floats in circling air, 
Its towering hills are tipt with fteady light, 
In yon dark (hades the billowy waters lurk, 
Once huge and fhapelefs, now a viewlefs mind 
Has mov'd its jarring atoms, rang'd its forms, 
And o'er its fertile furface fcatter'd wide, 
The glow of life — ah, how I long to ftray 
Amid its flowery vales — there quiet dwells — 
No more the giant-arms high heap the moun- 
tains 
To reach this flarry bridge, no more the light- 
nings 
Flafh horribly around — all — all, all is peace — 
I foon fhall reach it— how the fam'd Prome- 
theus 
Will gaze enamoured on my youthful charms. 
What ? — can Jove fend him too a nobler gift 

Than fair Pandora ? fure the cafket holds 

Ambrofial food— that makes the gods immortal — 

Would 






217 



Would I could tafte it — nay, 'tis poifon rather — 

deep revenge ! and thus to fnatch Prome- 

theus 
Delighted from my arms- — it cannot be— 
Jove bade me blefs the earth, he bade me rear 
A blooming offspring — would he flay my huf- 

band ? — 
Ah were it thus ? — I'll ope it— fhall I thwart 
The dread commands of heaven? — fome dire 

diftrefs 
Would fall upon me — Think what dreadful 

woes 
Prometheus fuffered — -think what endlefs pangs 
Torment the Titans — theirs were crimes indeed— 
But what is this ? — Among the other gods 

1 well remember Mars ; he call upon me 

A furious look, be bold, he cried, O maid, 
Be bold above thy fex — and now's the time— 
O'er the vafl (ky a folemn filence broods, 
No eye beholds me, I've already pad 
The monfters of the air, the fiery archer, 
The flaming goat, the writhing ferpent's fold ; 

F f Whate'er 



218 



Whate'er the cafket holds it cannot 'fcape me — 
What if it 'fcapes, and Jove mould know my 

guilt? 
Sure this all-perfect form, thefe fmiles of love, 
The touching accents of my rofy lips 
May win forgivenefs from the thunderer's felf — 
Yes, yes, the god expe&s my difobedience — 
I tremble flill — aflift me Mars — 'tis done. 

[Opening the cafket. 
What! — empty! — empty !— yet methought a wind 
As of a thoufand mining wiugs blew fwift 
Athwart my face — ah me ! what griefly forms 
Float in the air — fee, fee, they horrid fmile 
And mocking point at me — fpeak, fpeak, who 
are ye ? 

\A voice from the air. 

Thanks to her who gave us birth 

Eager failing to the earth, 

We hade to a6l the deeds of woe 

And prey on all that breathes below. 

PANDORA. 



219 



PANDORA. 

Ah me ! who are ye ? wretched, wretched woman ! 

[The voice continues. 
Bloody Strife, grid gnawing Care, 
Pride and Hatred and Defpair 
Hover o'er thee- in the air, 
We hafle to a£t the deeds of woe 
And prey on all that breathes below. 

PANDORA. 

What have I done ?— huff), hufh, a fofter found! 
[Another voice from the air* 
Hear, thou lucklefs maiden, hear, 
Ceafe thy forrow, ceafe thy fear, 
Tho' yon grim troop on mortal fhore 
Hade the tide of grief to pour, 
Hope fhall join the gloomy throng, 
Hope fhall breathe her foothing fong, 
And bending o'er the wounded heart 
Gently ileal the poifon'd dart, 
Hope fhall bid the tempeft ceafe 
And whifper future hours of peace. 

Ff2 ODE 



220 



ODE TO NIGHT, 



H 



IT HER, O queen of filence, turn the fleeds 
The flow-pac'd fleeds which draw thy ebon car, 
And heave athwart the fky 
Thy ftarry-ftudded veil. 

Come not with all thy horrors clad, thy heaps 
Of threat'ning pitchy clouds, thy wafteful blafts 

Which howling o'er the deep, 

High fwell the boifterous furge. 

Far be the fearful forms which round thee float ! 
The owl fhrill-fhrieking, and the flitting bat, 

And every ghaflly (hape 

That frightened fancy fpies! 



But 



221 



But come with peaceful flep, while o'er the land, 
Parch'd by the fultry fun, thy coolnefs breathes, 

And fummer mifcs are fhed 

Upon the withering herb. 

Let all be ftill — fave the fweet note of her 
Who warbles to thy fteps, and the faint found 

Of yon tall trees that bend 

Before thy fwelling breeze. 

Or from the diftant mountain, whofe huge crags 
Are pil'd to heaven, let echo feebly fend 

The falling waters roar 

Acrofs the wide-fpread lake. 

Then will 1 haften to the firm-built tower, 
And climb its winding fteps, and from the top 
Gaze with a deep delight 
On heaven's bright burning fires ; 

While from the northern verge of ether fhoot 
The flickering tides of ever changing light, 

Now 



222 



Now rolling yellow ft ream s, 
Now ting'd with glary red ; 

Pleas'd will I trace the meteor of the vale, 
Which fmoothly Aiding thro' its fhining path 

Sinks in its fwampy bed, 

And dims its fires in mift : 

Defcending 'midft the fields below I'll ftray, 
Where on the grafs the quiet herds are ftretch'd, 
Mixing their fragrant breath 
With freihen'd fcents of flowers^ 

Or loitering on the brim of ocean, mark 
The pale beams dancing on its curled waves, 

While from the gleamy eaft 

The moon begins her courfe ; 

Then flowly wandering to my peaceful home ; 
I'll feek my filent couch, and floating dreams 

Shall feaft my charmed foul 

With airy fcenes of blifs — 

EPIGRAM 



223 
EPIGRAM 

ON A SWALLOW BEARING A GRASHOPPER 
TO HER YOUNG.* 



A: 



H, Attic maid, who from the fcented Sower 
Drink'ft honied juice ! ah, minftrel I dofl thou 
bear 
To feaft the callow younglings of thy bower 
The brifk and gaily-chirping grafshopper ? 

What ? fhall the fongfter feize a vocal prey ? 

The winged feek the winged for her food ? 
The ftranger fnatch her fellow-gueft away ? 

The child of fummer tear the fummer- brood ? 

Do' ft thou not drop him? — oh, 'tis cruel, bafe, 
When poets fuffer by the poet-race. 

* Tranflated from the Greek. 

A WAR-SONG 



224 



A WAR-SONG* 



Fingal, Jurrounded by a numerous army of the 
enemy in a valley from which he had no prof- 
pet~l of efcape, unexpectedly perceived on the 
tops of the mountains the troops of his friends 
advancing to his relief: at this period the fong 
begins. 



H 



IGH o'er the hills the banners wave in air j 
A band of heroes (talk in armed pride ; 
With Erin's gold the mining flreamers glare ; 
Revenge, revenge, the ftarting Fingal cried, 

* From the Gaelic. 

Lo! 



225 

Lo! their glittering flags I fpy 
The dark-hair'd Tons of victory ; 
Now the boafler's pride is low— 
Deeply ftrike th' avenging blow. 

'Tis Dermod's colt!- — he breathes difrnay, 
Strong-arm'd warriors, feaft no more — 
Dermod's banners foremofl play 

When the dreams of battle roar ; 
Now the boafler's pride is low- 
Deeply ftrike th* avenging blow. 

See ! — the gore-Ptain'd eagle rofe, 
Fierce the hofl that Chialt leads, - 

Scattering heads of flying foes, 
Bloody thro* the fight he fpeeds ; 

Now the boafler's pride is low — 

Deeply ftrike th* avenging blow. 



Who 



Gg 



226 

Who is next ?— the dark-brow* d king 

Drifting heaper of the (lain, 
When the thick'ning weapons ring, 

Laft fliall Ofcar's hand refrain ; 
Now the boafter's pride is low-— 
Deeply ftrike th' avenging blow. 

Lo ! the fon of Morni's near, 

When the hofts of fight are mix'd, 

When the green earth quakes for fear, 
Firm his nervous foot is fix'd ; 

Now the boafter's pride is low — 

Deeply ftrike th' avenging blow. 

Enough, enough, too much for thee, 
On the dark-brown hills I fee, 
They come, they come, the warlike trains 
Drag nine weighty golden chains, 
Nine hundred heroes at their head — 
I fee the gazing foe a-dread. 

Before 



2#7 

Before the hiffing fpear they flee, 
As wreck along the dafhing fea ; 
Shouts of warriors rend the fkies, 
Battle frniles — arife, arife— 
Now the boafter's pride is low- 
Deeply flrike the avenging blow. 



1 ') d 2 TO 



228 



TO CYNTHIA* 



) ©gr^ 



T I 

AAo 



W winning are thofe pearly drops 
Which pity bids to flow ! 
Soft o'er thy blooming cheeks they glide 
And wet thy bread of fnow. 

'Tis thus along the fcented vale 

The lucid frreamlet goes, 
And moiflens with its glittering waves 

The lily and the rofe. 

And as when dews of eve defcend 
To cool the fcorched bower, 

Some joyful flutterer hovers round 
And bathes him in the fhower. 



* This Ode is tranflated from the Antholog. Lond. 
1684. p. 148. 

So 



229 

So young Defire amid thy tears 

His filken pinions plies, 
And fhakes his torch with playful hand, 

And brighter flames arife. 



TO 



230 



TO CYNTHIA, 



w 



HAT tho' I'm told that Flora's face 
Is flufh'd with frefher tints than thine, 
That Chloe moves with nobler grace, 
That Laura's lightnings brighter fhine; 

What tho' I'm told Zelinda's breaft 
Is whiter than the mountain-mows, 

That Fulvia's lips in dimples died 
Are fweeter than the fummer-rofe ; 

For ever hanging on thy {"mile, 

To others' charms my foul is blind, 

What perfecl form can him beguile, 
Who doats upon thy perfecl mind ? 



TO 



231 



TO CYNTHIA. 



->- 



A 



H ! fly not, fly not, nymph belov'd, 
And fhun thefe gazing eyes ! 
Ah ! can'ffc thou fee, and fee unmov'd, 
The flarting tear arife ? 

Shall not the deep-drawn fighs avail 
With which this bofbm fwells ? 

Wilt thou not hear the faltering tale 
That trembling paffion tells ? 

Think not that av'rice moves my bread 

To woo thy golden {tores. 
Think not thy rank in fplendour dred 

Is what this heart adores. 



I fcorn 



232 

I fcorn thy wealth, I fcorn thy ftate, 
Nor prize the boafting vain, 

To fnatch thee from the man I hate, 
A gayer richer fwain ; 

Thefe, thefe are joys of feeble power- 
Be Cynthia mine, I afk no more. 






INVITATION 



233 



INVITATION TO 



A FRAGMENT, 



H 



ASTE to thy friend, and from the moun- 
tain-brow, 
High-over-arching Cromer's pebbled fhore. 
Trace Ocean's varying hues, and view the fhades 
That chace each other o'er his dark-green breaft 
In quick fucceffion, floating with the clouds 
Which cafl the moving darknefs ; then defcend, 
And balk thee on the fands reflecting round 
Their grateful warmth, — Or watch the ghaftly 

gloom 
Of gathering florms that heave athwart the fky 
Their widening night, while hollow-whiftling 

winds 
Now fwell, now fink, and rolls the blacken'd fea 
H h His 



234 

His hoarfer furge — -or heed the rippling fhowers 
Which rattle o'er the deep, while airy forms 
Build on its waves the glittering bow of heaven ; 
And when behind yon wood-girt hills, the fun 
Has quench'd his fires, the fea-born flames fhall 

flafh, 
Glide thro* the wave and fparkle on the flrand. 
If thefe delight not, catch the purple beams 
Of fun-rife, tinging wide the mid of morn, 
And melting it to air — then brum acrofs 
The flower fpeck'd mead, and mark its native 

blooms, 
And glowing tints frefh-painted with the dew , 
While from the grafs the full-ey'd flately fleers 
Slow-Rretching rife, and fcan with fixed look 
Thy (1 ranger-form, and breathe their balmy- 
fleam. 
Or feek the briftly corn-field, jocund there, 
The low-bent mowers ply the hiding fcythe 
In cadence not unpleafing, with their tafk 
The tale, the laugh is mix'd ; and bend thy fteps 
To yon fleet brook, amid whofe (hining waves 

The 



235 

The countlefs fhoals wheel fwift, upturning oft 
Their polifh'd fides, and dart the flickering gleam 
Of filver light— When evening gently dims 
With fofteft fhades the glary light of day, 
When dark clouds, gold-tipt, croft the crimfon 

fky, 
And rear in air an awful radiant throne 
For ihapes unfeen, and thro' the reeking vale 
The calm deep flood of yellow light is pour'd, 
Then penfive wander to the twilight ftill 
Of Felbrig's oaks, for there thy mind fhall feed 
On heaven-born thought - 



Hhi ODE 



236 



ODE TO A FLY. 



'W'WVX^'VWVWi 



AY child of fummer, who on burniftVd 
wings 
Unceafing ply 8 ft thy brifk and mazy flight, 
Tailing with rapture all that Nature flings 
Profufely round — ftill courting new delight, 

Come, in thine airy dance, and freely lip 
The clear juice fparkling to my thirfty lip, 

And wheeling fportive o'er my tempting board, 
Cull the red nectarine for thy lufcious meal, 
Or from the peach its pulp of fragrance fteal, 

And calmly rifle autumn's choiceft hoard. 

Then 



237 



Then buzzing hade thee to the funny field, 
Or drink the perfume that the moorlands yield, 

Or fwiftly to fome flowery vale repair, 
There jocund float adown the dimpling ftream, 
And meet thy breth'ren in the fetting beam, 

And bathe thy ebon fides in purple air. 

While thoughtlefs failing on the fcented gale, 
Beware yon flimy threads, the woof of death, 

The fpeckled fpider will empierce thy mail, 
And quench thy fpirit with his tainted breath. 

Oh ! may no tempefl (hade thy mirthful day, 
Nor glue thofe filmy wings with whelming rain! 

Oh ! may no feather'd foe rnolefl thy way, 
And fluttering bear thee to his infant train ! 

May no fierce inmate of the curled brook, 

While o'er his head thou fpeed'ft thy circling 
flight, 
Snatch thee unheeding to his watery nook, 
And ruthlefs force thee from the cheerful light. 

Long, 



S>38 

Long, long may fummer lengthen out thy year, 
And fpare a life fo bright with varied joy, 

A little life which glides uncheck'd by fear, 
Tho' chilling winter hovers to deflroy. 

How different man — he forms the lowering cloud 
Of gloomy care his happier hours to fhroud, 

Fixing on doubtful ill his reftlefs eye, 
How wiferfar, like thee, with gladfome heart 
To catch the tranfports Nature's gifts impait 

And to her bounty truft futurity. 



ODE. 



239 



O D E*. 



>§&&*«?? 



JL LUSH'D with blooming beauty's pride, 
Fly not, fly not, lovely maid, 
The waving filver of my head, 

No more my gentle vows deride. 

Mark how pleafing to the fight 

The checker' d chaplet on my brow S 
Mark how the blufhing rofes glow, 

Twin'd with the lily's gliftening white I 



* From Anacreon. 



SONNET- 



9A0 



S O N N E T 



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I 



N vain doth Grandeur trick'd in gorgeous pall> 
Stalk {lately by, and point to glittering joys, 
In vain doth Mammon fpread his gilded toys, 
To lure a carelefs wight to bitter thrall, 
In vain doth loudly-laughing Pleafure call 
To loofe delights and days of mirthful noife, 
Hence, hated fiends — Me gentle Peace accoys, 
Her cup is heavenly fweet undafh'd with gall, 
Ybleft in her with flow and fecret tread 
I wander loitering in the arched grove, 
Fancy's gay dreams aye dancing round my head, 
There jolly elves at midnight nimbly move 
Their dainty feet, and fhades of mighty dead 
Glide pale athwart my path. Such fcenes the 
Mufes love. 



SONNET. 



241 
SONNET. 



^©aSKSMWiaw w 1 



A 



H, wretched wight ! whom Fame (hall tempt 
to leave 
The foft and filent valley of Repofe, 
And with her deeply-ftirring voice, deceive 

To deeds of thanklcfs toil and weary woes ; 
Ah, wretched wight ! who flays ne to perceive 
The thorns that threat'ning gird the peerlefs 
rofe, 
But hopes unharm'd he may a wreath receive 
Of deathlefs flowerets to bedeck his brows — 
Look up ! — afore the beamy towers of Fame 
What fell and ghaftly fiends for ever wait, 
Envy, whofe baleful vipers none can tame, 
And Difappointment of flow fullen gait, 
And with her eyes abafh'd heart-damping Shame ; 
Fly, fly to fair Repofe, nor fcorn fo fweet a 
mate. 



p 



243 

Corrigenda & Addenda, 

r E fac e — -For Sktckees read Sketches # 



P. 19, — Note — Infert after the words "Mythological 
per/on"—- 

It is fomewhat remarkable that neither Tacitus nor Pliny 
fhould have mentioned the name of Odin ; and we might 
rather be induced to fuppofe, from this omiflion, that he 
muft have flourifhed after their time ; this hypothecs in- 
deed will be abundantly eftablifhed if we may rely upon 
the Saxon Chronicle, as in the Genealogy of Kings (in 
that work) Odin is placed about 70 years before Alaric ; 
I confefs however that it appears to me highly improbable 
that Odin, the introducer of the Gothic Mythology, 
fhould not have lived before the fourth century, and I 
fhould rather be inclined to believe that the Odin men- 
tioned in the Saxon Chronicle was fome Gothic King 
who had aflumed that formidable name. 

P. 59. — Note—- For Keyjter read Keyjler. 

P. no. — Note — Infert after the words " repeopled the 
globe"-— 

Refpe£t.ing the Route of the Celts into Europe I have 
little to offer but conjectures ; poflibly however the fol- 
lowing remarks may not be deemed totally unworthy of 
attention. We are unable to trace any of the Celtic 
tribes farther Eaftward than to the fhores of the Euxine ; 
there dwelt the Cimmerii, or Cymbri, (doubtlefs a Celtic 
lis people) 



244 



people) who extended to the Cimmerian Bofphorus ; a 
part of thefe hordes appear to have croft the North of 
Europe, to have reached the Eaflern JJiore of the Baltic, 
where they, are mentioned as refiding by Pliny, and 
thence to have fpread themfelves, ftill retaining the name 
of Cymbri, thro' a great part of Germany and Britain, 
Another wave of people however arifmg from the fame 
fource, will appear I think from a confederation of the 
following fa£ts to have paft into Europe in a more 
Southern direction. Strabo informs us that feveral Celtic 
tribes were to be found in Vhrygia ; and the Galatians, 
to whom St. Paul addreffes an Epiftle, were a clan of 
the fame nation ; thefe latter indeed, as well as the Tefto- 

lages, (one of thf» tribes alluded to abovej arp Juppofed, 

to have paft from Europe into the territory which they 
occupied in Afia ; but as Strabo confefles that he is un- 
able to difcover the origin of the other Celtic inhabitants 
of Phrygia, it is highly probable that all the clans of this 
people who inhabited Afia Minor were the pofterity of a 
party of Celts who had fettled in that country when 
migrating from a more Eaftern fituation. Another tribe 
of the fame people refident in Thrace and Illyria were at- 
tacked and defeated by Basrebiftes. In the time of Alex- 
ander the Great a horde of Celts ftill inhabited the coaft of 
the Adriatic; the colony thus fituated might probably 
have been founded by a few adventurers who had with- 
drawn themfelves, on their route, from fome large mafs 
of their countrymen, while the main body itfelf, or 
rather perhaps fuccefTive bands of migrating Celts, appear 
to have preft forward from the fhores above mentioned 
to the Weft, and to have gradually poffeft themfelves of 
a confiderable portion of Italy and Gaul; thefe men or 

their 






245 



their defcendants at length eflablifhed themfelves at the 
foot of the Pyrenees, and finally over-ran (under the 
name of Celtiberians) an extenfive diftrift in Spain, 

Proofs of the fafts aboveftated will be found in Plinii 
Hilt. Nat. Lib. VI. 13. Macknight on the Epiftles Vol. 
II.. p. 105, &c. Strabo Lib. III. IV. et VII. Arrian 
de Expedit. Alexand. Lib. I. Herodot. Lib, II. et IV. 
Ariftot. degen. animal. Lib. II. 8. Caefar de Bell, Gallic, 
Lib. I. et Livii Hift. Lib. 21. 

P. 111.— Note — For Huzzuz read Hizzuz* 



P. 117- Mo TR*— After A»yjy ^/ttm in fart n rom.w.a f and 

after Seld en, &c. infert Eufebii Prseparat. Evangelic. Lib. I, 



P. 133. — Note— After Herodian, Lib. 8. infert— On le 
voit (Bel) comme nom du Soleil fur les Medailles Phe- 
niciennes de Cadiz et de plufieurs autres villes d'Efpagne. 

Monde primitif de Court de Gebelin, Vol. 4* 

P. 134. — Note — For Tauton throughout read Taauton ; 
and after Sanchoniathon infert — See Eufebii Prasparat. 
Evangelic. Lib. I. 

P. 136. — Note — Infert as an additional note to the 
words " unhewn altar"— 

I am fully perfuaded that many more traces of thefe 

gigantic Cromlechs and Druidical Circles than we are 

yet acquainted with, might eafily be discovered by an active 

curiofityj 
-0 






246 



curiofity, in all thofe parts of Europe into which the 
Celtic Rdigion had extended itfelf. The ftones men- 
tioned by Strabo as fituated on the ' 'iz^ov ctKfCdT'Aoiov of 
Spain (now Cape St. Vincent) were evidently the re- 
mains of fome kind of Druidical circle, he fays of them, 

KlQoVS (TvyKlHrftttl Tpg/f « TirjcLpCli KZTcL TOAAOU? TQTTOUt, CV$ 
etTO TSOV CLtpiKVXUZVW (TT^Z^CLl KATcl Tl TclTfiOV — $V<clV 
cFs OVK ZlV&l VOUIUO!', yJV VVKTap ^ITlCcLlVilV T* TOTTiS, OzQVS 
qUtfmVTWiti&TS%$W CLVTOV iV TG) TOTi %pOVtt* ^ib. ^^* 

The Druidical circles were of various kinds and def- 
tined to different ufes ; befides the ruder flones cf memo- 
rial ere&ed by the Druids, fome of their more regular 
circles appear to have been conflrucled for agronomical 
purpofes, others were ufed as Courts of Juflice, and a 
third kind was dedicated to the celebration of their reli- 
gious rites. 

See King's Muniment. Antiq. Vol. I. p. 137 to 155. 

P. 137.— Note — For terra read terra; . 

P. 184 — L. 8 — For new read knezo. 

P. 188.— L. 7 — For corn read /corn. 

FINIS. 



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